Until The Final Second
by xXMrs.RaymondXx
Summary: Vocaloid, a group run by Leader Luka, to help protect the magical world Aquaridon from harm. But suddenly, Magic has been sucked away by the evil Ace. Now it's a race until the final second. Until all wizard's last second. Luka x Gakupo Other pairings too
1. Chapter One

**Yaaay! New story! Okay, if you guys liked "Secrets" then I'm hoping you'll like this one too! It's a simular genre, being romance and adventure, but this time, there is also some fantasy. I just finished (Well caught up) watching the anime "Fairy Tail" It is on going and the most recent episode (117) just came out this weekend. So, while watching Fairy Tail, I got SUPER inspired to write a Fan Fiction with magic and powers. There will be things simular to Fairy tail (because it's inspried off it) so if you watch Fairy Tail, you might see some simulatrities. But I tried my best to make it my own, and not be too simular towards Fairy Tail. So this was MENT to be uploaded on my Vlaentines day, a day early to everyone else. But I was waaaayyy too busy with homework. SO if you're in Australia and reading this, just pretend I uploaded it yesterday. ;]. Even though it's not very valentine-ish, it's got some romance in later chapters. So be prepared for that. SO I hope you enjoy my fifth fanfiction! (Oh and my fourth Luka x Gakupo fiction )**

**Enjoy! ~Bridge**

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><p>As the morning sun rose above the camp, the young pupils began to rise from their sleep.<p>

They began the same morning routien; Get up, shower , get dressed. Like any other day. Soon enough, students were making their way through the gardens and huddling in their little groups of friends. The sound and smell of breakfast wasn't unnoticed by the hungry students. And surley enough, the eating hall was filled in no time.

Me on the other hand, was not following the regular routien. But of course, I did shower and change out of my sleeping clothes, I am no slob. However, just as the other students were begging to take their seats, I was running around gathering the personal requests of a certain girl.

No, I don't think saying "A certain girl" provides her justice. Perhaps "A demanding leader?" Hmmm... Well, moving on.

The things I was gathering consisted of paperwork, reports on certain people and a bunch of other boring things. But sadly, it was my job to do. And if I didn't do my job perfectly... well, let's just say, the hospital and I would become best friends.

I hurriedly ran through the eating hall, dodging as many tables and people as possible. However, with the number of students growing, it became more of a challenge.

"Oi! Gakupo! Aren't you staying for breakfast?" A sudden annoyed voice shouted across the hall.

I couldn't help but sigh. The same question was asked every day, and everyday I gave the same answer.

"Sorry Kaito, but she'll be here any minute, and I need to deliver this on time. Maybe tomorrow?" I finished with a question, rather than a statement, just so I wouldn't raise the hopes of Katio. We both knew tomorrow wouldn't be any different.

The blue haired boy's face fell. He sat back into his seat that was surrounded by equally upset people.

Just as I was about to turn and make up for lost time, I heard the eating hall's doors slam open. Suddenly the loud, jumpy students froze.

Not a sound was heard.

A figure stood in the doorway, glaring down at the hall. All eyes were stuck on the figure. Watching it's every move. The figure's piercing blue eyes scanned the room, like a lion looking for it's prey. Suddenly I ran up to the frightening figure, or woman as I should say. I halted suddenly by her side, but made sure to give her enough room so I didn't get screamed at.

"Morning Luka! I've got that issue in Ginote you wanted, along with the other things you needed." I tried to greet her as friendly as possible. God knows what would happen if I acted like I didn't care.

You see, this wasn't any other woman. This was Luka Megurine. The most feared and well known mage in all of Aquaridon.

Oh? You don't know what Aquaridon is? Apologies, that's quite important.

Well I gather most of you are familiar with the planet Earth, well Aquaridon is practically the same planet, except for... well... A few differences.

Well for starters, Aquaridon is a world full of magic. Aquaridon was created by a mysterious man, our master. We've never seen him, but legend says that he's an old wise man that lives for eternity. When Aquaridon was first created, the first wizards say they saw the master. Apprently he informed them of a peaceful way to live and things to expect in the future. He promised a great world, with the occasional problem, but nothing to worry about...But it is said that he warned the people about something horrible. That one day good magic would come to an end, unless the most powerful wizards would risk their lives to protect it. But apprently it's a bunch of baloney.

Now, back to the magic. I'm not saying there are any "Chosen ones" with scars on their foreheads, or family wizard competitions, like you see in movies and on TV. No, no. You see, in this world, every single person has magic. But no one can control all magic like you think, oh no. There aren't any books on how to learn spells or special scrolls. Every person was born with a specific power. Whether it's something simple like levatating items, or something more rare and powerful, like an element. The stronger the wizard, the stronger the magic the wizard is born with.

Life with magic is amazing. I doubt any of us could imagine life without it. Well... we probably couldn't imagine if we tried. You see, Master also informed, that if Magic disappears, then so does everyone else with it.

So long sotry short, if we ever lose magic, we all die. Sucks, I know.

Alright, I know what you're thinking;

"But won't people just use their magic for evil?"

Well that's where we come in. A few years ago, there was a threat of a horrible war. Between the good wizards, and the dark wizards. Dark wizards use a type of magic seprate to the rest of us, called "Dark Magic". Creative? Not very.

They would do evil things, and tried to kill all good wizards. To stop the war, one person brought together the most powerful wizards to create a group to stop the dark wizards. That person was Luka Megurine. The leader of our group.

We were like a police division. And we took care of Aquaridon with all our power.

We were extremely powerful.

We were extremely well known.

We were the Vocaloids.

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><p>Wait... Where was I? Oh yeah, angry Luka.<p>

"You were late." Luka's voice growled like a bear. I was in for it.

"That's the second time Gakupo. I thought I could have more trust in you." Her head snapped in my direction, eyes glaring me into the floor.

I stepped back cautiously, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Come on Luka, you can trust me. Riiiiight?" I mentally slapped myself for being so nervous. Whenever I was nervous my voice would have the tendancy to go squeaky. It was worse enough being interagated by Luka, but with everyone else watching, and my voice was as squeaky as a pre pubesant teenager, I wanted to sink into the floor.

Luka's scowl tightened, I swear I saw her eyes glow red. "I wouldn't be too sure about that Gakupo. This is your last warning. Mess up again, and there will be consequences." Before I could cut in again, she stormed down the center of the hall.

Suddenly the same boy from earlier jumped out of his seat and raced over to Luka. "H-Hey Luka! Um... I was wondering if you had time to stop and have bre-"

"No Kaito." She interupted rudely.

Kaito's face fell. He watched as the girl continued storming down the hall, and out into the garden.

Poor guy. I thought in sympathy.

Everyone here knew that Kaito was in love with Luka. Even Luka knew.

I raced over to him, making sure to place a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Hey, turns out I can have breakfast with you guys." I said with a comforting smile.

I couldn't help but feel relieved when I saw Kaito's face light up. "Yes! Finally now we can get some interesting people at our table!"

"Oi!" An annoyed voice yelled from the table. "I heard that!"

Kaito smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Miku!" The two of us made our way over to the table. Kaito was a really good friend of mine, so I made sure I looked after him. We were basically the same person, except for our magic. Kaito's was water, which was quite fitting for him.

Kaito sat down in his seat, while I sat next to a girl with red-orange hair. I couldn't help but smirk when I noticed the girl's face.

"Hey Miki, how's the new boyfriend going?" I looked over at Piko, who looked suddenly interested in his food.

Miki's face turned the same colour as her hair. She opened her mouth the say something, but quickly closed it, shuffling in her seat nervously. It didn't surprise me how she didn't say anything. Miki was the quietest member here. We had actually never heard her speak. The only one she spoke to was her boyfriend, Piko. Well him and her animals, since talking and controlling animals was her power. As for Piko, who's magic was lightning, matched his hair quite well.

"Gakupo, leave them alone." A soft, kind voice warned.

I gave a nice smile to the girl "Sorry Rin. I'll be good for you." I heard an annoyed grumble next to Rin. It came from the boy sitting next to her. A boy who happened to look identical to her. Well that wasn't any wonder, since they were twins. The Kagamine twins to be excat. Rin was the girl, and also the most sweetest and kindest girl inside Vocaloid. It wasn't really a surprise though, since Rin's magic was Light. An extremely rare magic that was only possessed by very powerful wizards. On the other hand, her twin brother Len was the excat opposite. He was dark and gloomy, most girls found that attractive about him, but others found him scary. Kind of similar to Luka. And yes, his magic was Darkness. Which was also quite obvious. However him and Rin were incredibly close, especially Len towards Rin. He hated it when guys would hit on Rin. And the answer is quite self explanatory... So basically, Len knew that I knew, and I liked to play around a little. So he hated me too. Some of the others knew about Len's feelings for Rin... well only the smart ones. But we all completely supported him, and didn't think it was strange at all.

"Miku! Again? Seriously?" Kaito scolded the teal haired girl next to him. She had just managed to spill her orange juice onto his eggs. At the moment Kaito's breakfast looked like something a dog had thrown up.

A red covered the girl's cheeks. "Sorry Kaito-kun! Here, you can have my breakfast." The girl apologized.

That girl? Oh, that's Hatsune Miku. She's one of the cutest, yet the biggest klutz here. It got annoying sometimes, but she always made up for it. Sometimes her klutziness affected her magic. And since her magic was wind, it could get really messy.

Kaito sighed, and handed the girl back her food. "Don't worry. You eat. I'll be okay."

Miku shot him a bright smile. "Thanks Kaito-kun!" She suddenly dove into her food again.

I could see Kaito looking at Miku eating pleasurably. He looked happy that she was eating, but longing for some food of his own. He was obviously still hungry, but I doubt he'd want to touch the food he had in front of him. Kaito really wasn't having the best morning.

I stood up from my chair, and placed my plate of food in front of Kaito. His confused face didn't go unnoticed. "Hey, can you eat this for me? I have to go see Luka again, and I don't want her to punch the food out of me." I offered.

Kaito shot me a bright smile. "Thanks Gakupo. Good Luck."

I smiled back before heading off to look for Luka. Well... you might be wondering what type of magic I have, as well as Luka. Well that's an easy question you see. Luka and I both have an ultamitly, extremely rare magic. I mean once every thousand years rare. It was a miracle that two babies at the same year were born with such amazing magic. Because we had such strong powers, we were the most powerful wizards in Vocaloid. But even still, Luka was still the best.

You see, my magic is Life. And Luka's... is Death.

We are complete opposites. But Life magic is known as the king of good magic. While Death is the king of dark magic. Even though both our magic was pretty equal, there were a lot more things Luka could do with her magic. Not to mention how much time she spent improving her magic, while I was far too busy with paperwork and other boring stuff... Meaning, Luka could take me down with one blow.

God save me.

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><p><strong>First Chapter finished! Yay!<strong>

**I'm not sure how long this will go for, but I'm praying the length will be the same as "Secrets". That was a good length for me.**

**Well, I'm sorry the person who asked me to write a Luka x Kaito story (Sorry I forgot your name! .) I WILL be doing it, I promise. But maybe not for a while. Just because i want to start this, and get a good rythm. God that sounds weird... .**

**But I'm not going to wait until this is finished, THEn upload it. I'll try to do both at the same time. But i'll TRY! You see, this is my first year of highschool, and since we are all in year seven, and don't know how highschool goes, they are giving up a crap load of homework to do. So we get scared and think that in highschool we cant slack off. So i have TONS of hoework and assingments to do. And sorry guys, school comes first. But I will try my every hardest to publish this as fast as I can.**

**(Oh and also, the main characters will be the ones mentioned in this chpater. They others will be mentioned, but not as much. So if you like Miki and Piko as a couple, there will be some bits for them... and also, I have to admite, I've fallen in love with twinsest. Anime will do that to you. So there is going to be some love for Rin and Len as twins.. ;])**

**I started writing this when I was over seas, on my ipod, and I just couldnt wait to get home and actually start writing it. So i hope you will enjoy this sotry as much as I have enjoyed writing it!**

**Next chapter soon, I'll try my best!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Well here's Chapter 2. I promised I would have it up! Sorry, not at the actual plot yet. But expect that next chapter.**

**I've decided against writing "Flashback" Every time there is one. So instead I'll just put lines at the start and finish and put in italics. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>**(Luka's POV)**

It was nice having a real summer breeze blowing through the garden. Summer this year had been pretty lousy, today was the first perfect day. Hot, but accompanied with a cool breeze to soften the heat.

I smiled up at the warm sun. The sun always reminded me of good memories. Maybe that's why I always find myself quite fond of Rin.

Lately, I was finding my hair much more of a bother. Even in this soft breeze, here was my hair, flying all over the place. I attempted to tuck most of it behind my ear, but the stupid hair managed to sneak it's way out again.

I sighed loudly. Not even hair likes me.

"Hey Luka, can we talk?"

Ugh. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

"What is it Gakupo?" I was a bit surprised with how harshly I snapped at the boy, but it was his fault. He was disturbing my relaxing time.

"W-Well… I was just…Ahem… Wondering…" He trailed off. It was hard to decide if he was embarrassed or nervous. Whatever his reason, it was annoying me.

"Spit it out would you?"

His nervous eyes met mine, seeing the annoyance in my eyes. "Well… I was just wondering. How come you never sit with everyone anymore?" Without asking, which I very much would of preferred, he placed himself on the spot next to me.

I couldn't help but sigh once again. Such stupid questions. Why did he waste my time by asking them? "Because you know that I'm busy. Besides it doesn't matter. It's just sitting at a table. It's not like it's earth shattering."

I jumped suddenly when I felt his warm hand against my leg. I shot him a deathly glare, who the hell did he think he was?

"Come on Luka, we're your friends, come sit with us." He said with a friendly smile. "You can't distance yourself from everyone forever."

I raised my eyebrow. The man sure did know how to give me an order without it sounding like one. Gakupo was the only Vocaloid who knew how to speak to me like I was a real person. As much as I hated to admit it, I quite liked it. And sadly, I had to face the facts, the guy had a point. I always noticed the sadness in everyone's eyes as I stormed off every day. Especially in Kaito's. The poor boy looked heartbroken every time I pushed him away.

However, the point of the matter was that I was the leader. I had to keep a strong hold on everyone or they would go crazy. I couldn't waste one moment looking weak.

"Gakupo, just mind your own business." Without letting him utter another word, I jumped up from the seat and stormed away. I rolled my eyes. Stupid Gakupo. He knew nothing. I couldn't be close to anyone, it was too dangerous.

It always was.

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><p><em>It was a gorgeous day in Aquaridon, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and there was not one cloud in the sky. It was the absolute perfect day for the children to gain their new powers.<em>

_You see, in Aquaridon when a child turns eight, they begin to develop their powers. However, because their powers have only just arrived, they have little control on them. So they can get out of hand._

_"Whoa!" A small, eight year old Miku was lifted into the air by her new magic. An excited laugh escaped the young girl as she flew around the sky._

_Kaito's magic was also starting to show. The boy smiled as water emerged from his hands. "H-Hey guys look! I'm doing it! I'm doing i-" The boy was cut off mid sentence by his own magic splashing him straight in the face, soaking the poor boy._

_"Yeah, you're really doing it." Len added sarcastically. The boy looked quite frightening, he was surrounded by black. As if he was in a bubble of night._

_"Look Lenny!" Rin excitedly ran up to her brother, smiling like crazy. She held her palms to the sky, and suddenly the sun grew brighter, glowing like an magnificent star._

_Len's face broke out into a warm smile. "Good job R-"_

_Suddenly a large, dark mist covered over the sun, eliminating it's light._

_Rin's eyes filled with tears. "Why would you do that Lenny?" She suddenly broke into tears and ran off._

_Len looked like he was about to die. "W-Wait Rin! I didn't mean it!" He yelled, chasing desperately after his crying twin._

_Miki was sitting on a bench, watching the commotion. He girl had shown signs of gaining her powers, however wanted not to do anything, too scared she might lose control and hurt someone._

_"Hey Miki, why don't you come over with us?" Piko asked the girl, holding out his hand._

_Miki opened her mouth to say something, but before she could the spot on the wooden bench next to her burst into flames. Another surprise attack of Piko's powers. Miki screamed and clung onto Piko's arm. The pair both realized how close they were too each other. They suddenly turned their heads, hiding their red faces._

_Suddenly a long rumbling noise filled the park. The pair looked to where the noise was coming from, but it was too late. Before they could even scream, they were tackled by a herd of white rabbits._

_Miki and Piko poked their heads though the fluffy creatures. They looked at each other before bursting into hysterics._

_A young Gakupo was walking around, testing his powers. He smiled as a dying flower strengthened, and grew back to perfect health. He didn't do it intentionally, but it made him appreciate his powers more. Life was the perfect power, what could go wrong?_

_Gakupo looked up to see a young girl running into the park. She had short pink hair, and bright blue eyes. Gakupo's face lit up immediately._

_"Luka! Luka over here!" He called out excitedly._

_The girl looked up to see Gakupo calling her over, as soon as she saw his happy face, she broke into a wide smile._

_"Coming Gaky-kun!" Luka began to rush over to the group, trying not to fall over her dress. Suddenly something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Sitting in front of her, looking all fluffy and cute was a rabbit._

_Luka's face lit up. "Awww! Hello Mr. rabbit!"_

_She instantly bent down and scooped the rabbit into her arms. Gakupo smiled at the girl, happily patting the fluffy bunny._

_"Hey Gakupo look!" Kaito's voice yelled. Gakupo spun around to see Kaito actually controlling his powers. Water was flying gracefully through the air from his hands. Suddenly it froze and came crashing down again… Right on top of Miku's head._

_"Kaito-kun!"_

_Gakupo laughed at Miku, who was chasing Kaito liked her life depended on it._

_Suddenly something horrible filled the air. It sent goose bumps onto Gakupo's skin and made him want to run away. It was the sound of a girl screaming._

_It was the sound of Luka screaming._

_Gakupo spun around and fled to the screaming girl. She was still standing, holding the bunny. However her head was down, hidden by her hair. Gakupo grabbed the girl's shoulders, shaking her furiously._

_"Luka? Luka! What happened?" He asked desperately._

_Suddenly Luka's arms fell to her sides. The bunny that was once in her arms fell to the ground. It wasn't moving. Gakupo bent down to the creature. He grabbed a stick and poked it gently._

_It was dead._

_"I-I didn't m-mean too." Luka's voice was quiet and shaky. It was obvious she was crying._

_Gakupo took a step back, cautious about her powers. Luka's head rose, her cheeks were stained with tears._

_Her eyes widened with horror as she looked around her. All the grass and plant life around her shriveled and died. She was surrounded by a field of black. Suddenly Luka felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see a tall man looking down at her seriously._

_"Come Luka." He spoke blankly._

_Luka looked up at the man hopefully. "But daddy I-"_

_"I said, COME Luka." This time the man tightened his grip on the girl's shoulder, glaring into her eyes._

_Luka's face filled with fear. She sadly accepted the fact that she had to leave, and turned to leave with her father._

_Gakupo looked sadly at the girl walking away with her father. All around him, the plants came back to life, and the bunny jumped up and ran away. But none of that mattered to Gakupo. All that mattered was that Luka was leaving. He couldn't stop thinking about the look in her eyes as she watched the horrible actions her powers were doing. He knew Luka's father. After a stunt like that, it would be a while until he saw her again._

_But he wanted her now._

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><p>Over the next three years. No one heard a thing from Luka. There had been some rumors about what was happening in her family. However, those rumours were destroyed when the town found out that her family had been brutally murdered except Luka. None of us could even picture Luka's pain. It was rumoured that Luka was the one that discovered her dead family. Which had started more rumours that she was the one that killed them. None of us could even comprehend why Luka would do such a thing. She was never a person to do such a thing to kill a person. However some people said her magic made her crazy, and she lost her mind. Thankfully these rumors were destroyed when an unknown person confirmed they were with Luka when they discovered the bodies.<p>

But besides that, it was as if she had disappeared completely from the planet. However, people were beginning to get confused when more places were being destroyed over those three years.

Gakupo could never forget the day he and everyone else made their way to the park where they all liked to visit on the weekend. The once beautiful park filled with beautiful flowers and plants was completely dead. Everything was completely destroyed. The fountain that was once standing beautifully in the middle of the park was blown to bits. And as much as everyone hated to admit it. They all knew who the culprit was. There was only one person who could had magic enough to do something like this in their town.

And the only sign that person left behind was a small note. A small note that only contained two short words.

"I'm sorry."

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><p>I slammed the door to my office shut, not caring who heard. Damn that Gakupo! Why did he have to bring such pointless memories back to me! I don't want to remember! Didn't he understand that?<p>

Without hesitating, I slammed my fist into the wall. I just wanted to scream. To just pick up everything in the room and break it.

I wanted to forget. I wanted to erase my past. But it was hopeless, there was no way I could ever change, nevertheless forget my past.

No one knows what happened over those three years. No one here knows. And I'm determined to keep it that way. Who knows what they would do if they knew. Although I had some form of an idea. If they were ever to know… Vocaloid would only be but a part of history.

I took in a deep breath. Lately I felt strange. It was as if I was getting weaker. My arms always felt extremely heavy, and sometimes I felt like my legs would give in on me. There were only two logical explanation for the way I was feeling. One, I was working too hard and had gotten sick. Or… the reason I feared, that my powers might be being sucked away from me. Suction magic was a practice that dark mages had come up with, however after years of fighting dark mages. We finally managed to wipe out all the mages of knowledge of the practice.

Suction magic was known for… well, be sucking magic. A wizard would just have to choose their victim, and over time, suck all of their magic away.

There was only one person on all of Aquaridon that may have some knowledge of suction magic. But I didn't understand. Why now? I didn't understand.

Well whatever the reason, I had to pray I was just sick. Because if it were him, then I wouldn't have much time left.

I was disrupted by my thoughts when I could hear a loud scream in the eating hall. Followed by what sounded like plates and glassware crashing. I couldn't help by groan loudly. Why me?

I rushed outside of my office, heading for the hall. Once I entered, I honestly wished I didn't bother wasting my time coming here.

Standing facing each other were two of the Vocaloids, a young man and woman, looking around my age. The woman had short brown hair, and was wearing a quite fashionable attire. The man on the other hand had quite long hair for a boy, but still around the length of the average boy. Resting on his nose was a pair of clear glasses.

If I could remember, they were Kiyoteru and Meiko. The two who were constantly fighting. I gathered the scream must of came from Rin, who was being helped by Len to stand up. She must of been swept up in their brawl.

Meiko's eyes glared down at Kiyoteru, who returned to her the same amount of disgust.

"Give it up Meiko. You'll never be as strong as me." Kiyoteru said with a sly grin. "After all, you're just a girl."

Meiko grimaced at the boy. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm weaker then you."

Without another word two electrical cords wrapped around Meiko's arms and ankles, making it impossible for her to move.

Realizing his opening, another electrical cord flew into his hand, it was obviously on, the shots of electricity ready to electrify anyone who touched them. He started to walk closer to Meiko, ready to attack.

Meiko's eyes widened in fear, and desperately struggled against the cords that held her back.

No one bothered interfering. We all knew what would happen next. Suddenly Kiyoteru froze, his eyes filling with tears. He suddenly burst into tears, and ran behind a table, shaking like a leaf.

Meiko laughed like crazy as she ripped the cords off her body. She slowly made her way over to the crying boy. He looked up at her in utter fear, scared she might kill him.

"Ha! Told you! Give it up Kiyoteru! You can't beat me!" She laughed in his face.

Suddenly the boy returned to normal. He wiped the tears out of his eyes and jumped up. "Damn you Meiko! You used your stupid powers to change my emotion to fear! That's not fair!"

The girl just scoffed. "Well you used your stupid technology powers to hold me back! I thought you were going to kill me!"

The boy just looked away in annoyance. After today, that was Kiyoteru's fifteenth loss in a row. He couldn't brush away Meiko's emotion powers like Gakupo and I could.

The two burst into hysterics, patting each other backs in a friendly manner. It was always like this. The two fought, but were always best friends.

As much as I hated seeing them wrecking up the place, I wouldn't dare to tell them to stop. It was there way of staying close to one another. Although they didn't want to admit it, the two obviously had feelings for each other. And the last thing I wanted to do was ruin another relationship.


	3. Chapter Three

**Yeah! I'm getting back into my good updating rhythm ;D. The only thing is I reeaaallly should be doing an assignment which is due on the 30th, as well as study for the Naplan... . But I love you guys so much that I'm writing. Btw Lulu is Luka's younger sister. She has a couple songs on Youtube singing some of Luka's songs.**

**(If you hate reading reaaaalllly long chapters, sorry. I kind of got a bit taken away during this...)**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Three<span>**

"Hey, wait! Wait, Luka!" Gakupo called out.

The desperate cry just made me walk faster. Did that boy ever give up?

I was pulled to a sudden stop when I felt his hand catch mine. It took all the strength in my body to not turn around and punch him straight in the face.

"Alright Gakupo. You have my attention." I gave in, turning to face the boy.

He suddenly shoved a note to my face. "An invitation." He announced.

I scanned the letter. This was no ordinary letter. The envelope was made from a very fine paper, more expensive than anyone else in town could afford. The handwriting on the front was obviously written in a fine, ink pen. The type of pen that only the rich city people used. I flipped over the letter, seeing the last clue that confirmed that this letter was indeed, from the city.

A dark red wax seal on the back of the letter enclosed it safety. On the wax was imprinted the city's emblem. Which was a bright light of magic emitting from a single hand. There was no doubt that this was from the city. But the only question is, what did they need with us?

I opened the envelope carefully, not wanting to damage a letter so important. Once the envelope was open, a sudden projection shot out. The sudden action made me jump, almost losing the note.

"Hello Vocaloids!" The sudden projection greeted.

I studied the character closely. It was a relatively young man. Looking only around in his late twenties. He had light blonde hair, with unfitting purple eyes. The man was wearing an average suit, and was groomed very well.

"M-Mr Mayor?" I asked in shock. It was a rare occurrence for anyone working for the mayor to send a letter, but the Mayor? It was ridiculous to even suspect to get one. Our Mayor was world famous, I doubt there was anyone in Aquaridon that didn't know his name.

The young man flashed me a white smile. You could practically hear all the girls in the room swoon. The Mayor was known for his very good looks. It's one of the reasons why we all love him so much. Well that and how responsible he is even though he's so young. His father was the previous mayor, but tragically died when his son was only nineteen. Even though he was only nineteen, the boy took on his father's role, and proved an extremely good job.

"Hello Luka! My how you have grown!" I felt a slight blush appear on my cheeks when I noticed him inspecting me head to toe.

"With no disrespect Mr Mayor, but could we hurry up and get to the purpose of you calling us?" Gakupo suddenly asked. His tone of voice seemed way too snappy. Didn't he know who he was talking to?

However the man just smiled. "Of course Gakupo." He responded politely. Gakupo only huffed in response.

"Well you are all aware of the annual Light festival, am I correct?" He asked.

"Yes, we all are." I responded.

The man's face lit up once again. "Well, if it's not too much to ask-"

"Nothing you ask will ever be too much Mr Mayor." I reassured. I could feel the eyes of the others burning into the back of my head, wishing I hadn't already signed them up for something that could be a difficult task. Well it was about time we did something, besides small jobs, it had been pretty boring the past year.

"Great!" The man responded, eyes sparkling like stars. "Well, it would be an honor, if you- all of you- could provide the closing act for the festival?"

We all looked at each other with bright eyes. Something like this was most defiantly not a chore to us; it was more like a privilege.

"Yes! Most defiantly yes!" I practically yelled at the man.

The man flashed another wide smile to everyone. Which one again earned another swoon from the girls. "Great! Then I'll see you in a week's time. I can't wait for your arrival. Until then Vocaloids!"

Suddenly the projection flashed once, before disappearing. As soon as the man disappeared, everyone in the room began to celebrate. The girls were fanning their flushed faces while jumping up and down, whilst the boys were… well, being boys.

Hugs and high fives were shared all round, whilst the yelling didn't stop. The noise suddenly got to me, I could already feel my ache beginning to ache.

"SILENCE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, a dark magic aura accidently spilling around me.

Suddenly everyone froze, not moving an inch. I smiled on the inside, glad I finally managed to get them to shut up.

"There will be no celebrations until we are prepared for the festival! So Miku, Kaito, Leon, Lily, Miki, you decide on music. Kiyoteru, Gachapoid, Al, Len and Gumi you guys work of sets. Neru, Haku, Meiko and Rin you guys work on costumes. Everyone else… do something productive." Everyone nodded before heading off, busy at work.

My eye suddenly caught a figure heading out of the room. "Not you Gakupo." I saw the boy freeze, turning to look at me questionably. I sighed before continuing on.

"I need you to come with me to discuss this matter." My voice was more commanding then it was informing.

Gakupo nodded, however I noticed his raised brow. "But why me?"

"Because, out of everyone here…" There was a long pause before I continued, so I could brace myself for my next words. "Itrustyouthemost."

Gakupo frowned, an amused smile creeping it's way onto his face. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that." He teased.

I let out an annoyed sigh, crossing my arms firmly. "Itrustyouthemost." I muttered even quieter and quicker.

Gakupo only raised his eyebrows smugly. "I can't heeeaaarrr you."

My patience was growing thin. "Forget it! I'll do it myself!" I turned and went to storm out the room when a sudden familiar hand caught mine again. I spun around, shooting the boy a half death half confused glare.

"Ditto." He simply answered, smiling sweetly.

I couldn't help but feel a slight wave of something inside of me. Something.. nice. I couldn't really explain it. All I knew I hadn't felt something like this since I was young.

I only answered with a nod before walking past the boy.

"But you're…" Gakupo's murmuring voice trailed off just before I could hear what he was about to say.

I froze completely. Only my head snapped harshly back, looking at the back of the boy's head.

"What was that Gakupo?" My voice was dripping with threat.

Gakupo body turned stiff. He started breathing heavily, and I could see in the corner of my eye his eyes full of fear. "N-Nothing. I didn't say anything."

I whipped around, glaing at the back of his head. "It didn't sound like nothing Gakupo."

My hand snatched his wrist, and with a quick movement, I swung the boy around to face me. I took a good look at his face. His eyes pleaded for mercy, but I wouldn't let him have it. Instead I only tightened my grip on his wrist.

"Tell me." I hissed.

The boy's face suddenly tightened, and the once pleading eyes were now looking down at me in anger. "But you're not the same anymore!" He practically shouted in my face. "There!"

My frown deepened. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The boy only cocked his head back to laugh. I kept my firm eyes on him, making sure the grip around his wrist didn't loosen.

"You seriously need to ask that? God Luka, are you that dense? You! You're not that same girl I used to be best friends with, the girl who was always so caring and polite, the girl I fell in l-" He suddenly cut himself off.

Gakupo lowered his head, shaking it softly. "You know, out of everyone here. I thought you would at least tell me what happened over those three years you went missing. Seeing how you trust me the most."

"No." I took in a shaky breath. "I can't tell anyone."

Now it was Gakupo's turn to grow angry. He ripped his wrist from my grip, and instead planted his strong hands on my arms, gripping them violently.

"Why? Why Luka? What was so bad that it changed you into a completely different person?"

I shook my head. A deep pain was resurfacing in my heart. "I-I can't say."

Gakupo's grip tightened, his fingernails clawing into my skin. "Luka whatever happened, you're making it worse for yourself if you don't tell anyone! Tell me! Don't you know this is affecting the others? You don't even care about them! All you care about is yourself. I never knew how ridiculously selfish you could be!"

I suddenly felt the contact of my hand against his face. I made sure not to hold back. I wanted to slap him with all my force.

Gakupo's eyes were wide with shock. He clutched onto his red cheek, still too shocked to move.

"How dare you." I hissed. "You don't know anything about me!"

Instead of cowering away, Gakupo only stood taller, towering above me. "Yes. You're right. I don't know anything about you." He took the hand away from his cheek, exposing his still red skin to the world. "But that's only because you won't tell me anything. Don't you think it would be easier just to tell?"

All I wanted to do was run away. I didn't have the heart to tell him, or anyone for that matter. I was afraid. I was scared I'd be left all alone again.

"I can't..." I paused, collecting myself. "I don't want to lose you and everyone."

Gakupo looked as puzzled as ever. I didn't blame him, my story only made sense once explained. "L-Luka.. whatever happened. You can tell me. I won't leave you. I promise."

By looking clearly into his violet eyes, I felt more reassured. Maybe he was right. Maybe I would feel better if I told him.

"O-Okay." I finally gave in.

"Great! I'll go get everyone!" He said, rushing off to get everyone.

"Wait! Gakupo!" I latched onto his arm, bringing him to a sudden holt.

Gakupo only looked at me in surprise.

"No! I can't tell everyone… not yet." I was fine telling Gakupo now, but everyone. I couldn't bare to even think about how Yuki would think of me.

"Why? You said you were fine to say." He said.

I shook my head. "I-I know. But I don't think I can tell everyone just yet. If it's only you, then sure whatever."

Gakupo frowned. "Luka… I think everyone deserves an explanation. You can't run away forever. I mean, we were friends with your family as well. Some of us want to know what happened to Luk-"

"NO!" I accidently shouted. I quickly clapped my hands over my mouth, wishing I hadn't suddenly had an outburst.

I felt Gakupo's hand rest on my shoulder. "Luka?"

"No! I'm not talking about Luki and the others. Please… I don't want to." Just thinking about them still brought a stab of guilt in my heart. After all, it was my fault that they were all dead.

"But Lu-"

"Don't talk about them! Please!" I pleaded. I already felt horrible.

Gakupo's temper was rising. I didn't blame him, he was probably desperate to know what was going on, and here I was, being a pathetic little girl who wouldn't open her mouth.

"How would Lulu feel about you hiding from your problems? It's probably the reason why they're dead!" Gakupo suddenly froze. He knew he had crossed the line.

I just stared at the ground with wide eyes. I could hear Gakupo desperately apologise and go on, but it all sounded like white noise to me. I was filled with anger and guilt. As much as I wanted to kill him right now, I knew he was right. But I was too mad and upset to worry about that now.

I raised my arms straight in front of me with my palms outstretched, my black magic was already spewing out them. I saw the panic in Gakupo's eyes.

"W-Wait Luka, I'm sorry!" The boy pleaded.

But I didn't pay any attention, suddenly while screaming at the top of my lungs, two black fire-like beams shot out of my palms. I watched as they came in contact with Gakupo, and he was sent flying back, straight into a wall. He hit it with such force it made a large dent along with cracks going all up and down the wall. Gakupo fell to the ground, moaning in pain.

"Don't you EVER speak of my family again." And with that, I spun and stormed out of the room.

* * *

><p>I groaned loudly as I managed to sit up. God Luka can pack a punch. I was lucky that I wasn't a weak wizard, if I was, that blow would have easily killed me. My back was aching like crazy, I came to a conclusion that I must of really bruised something. Besides that, a headache and a few other aching body parts, everything else was okay.<p>

I sighed loudly. This situation seemed too familiar.

* * *

><p><em>Gakupo rested his hand against his head as he stared carelessly outside. Another year of school. He was excited, but only because he was starting the "Senior" scene of primary school. He was officially a year five student. But besides that however, he didn't honestly care. His mind was always focused on one thing.<em>

_"Luka." He whispered unintentionally. Once he realized what he has just spoken, he closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh._

_Three years._

_It had been three long years since that day where Luka had discovered her powers. He couldn't get the image of Luka looking horrified as she watched the plants dying around her. It affected him so much he had begun to have nightmares. His father was worried, but Gakupo didn't care. All he wanted to know was where Luka was, and if she was all right._

_There had been rumors as to where Luka had disappeared. After her family's death, the Master had taken sympathy on her. Plus with her amazing magic abilities, he had taken her in as his accomplice. Another was that Luka's family's death was a fake. Just a lie so they could escape the country with Luka so no one could try to kidnap her and use her powers for their own use. But the most popular rumor by far was that Luka was dead. The person who killed her family tracked her down and got her as well._

_Gakupo squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. He didn't want to think like that. He wanted to know that she was safe and happy._

_But over all, he wanted her back._

_"Gakupo? You alright?" A familiar voice asked._

_Gakupo raised his head, inspecting the person standing in front of his desk. "Oh Gumi. Uh… Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little tired."_

_Gumi frowned. "You sure? You look really sad."_

_"Yeah. I fine. I promise." He tried to smile as real as he could, but even he knew it looked ridiculously forced._

_Gumi's face fell. "You miss her don't you?"_

_Gakupo remained silent._

_Gumi gave the boy a sad smile, placing a hand on his. "Luka isn't the one to hurt people's feelings. She knows how much she means to all of us. She'll come back. Who knows? Maybe she is the Master's accomplice. I'm sure he keeps her busy."_

_Gakupo felt a littler better, but still felt horrible. "Thanks Gumi."_

_"Alright students! Settle down!" The teacher's voice called over the screaming students._

_Gumi smiled before parting to her desk._

_"Now, I know you're all excited for the new year! Am I right?" The class only responded to the teacher's efforts with a loud groan._

_"Oh I give up on you kids." The teacher sighed loudly. "However I have some good news. We have a new student kids. Now I want you to treat the student with respect. We all hate to be left out."_

_Suddenly without warning, the door to the classroom slammed open, revealing the student to the classroom. The student proudly made their way to the front of the classroom eyeing down everyone in sight._

_Everyone in the room was completely silent. No one moved, no one took their eyes off the figure. Everyone was frozen in complete, utter shock._

_But no one was in as much shock as Gakupo. He griped onto his desk, feeling if he let go he would collapse. He desperately tried to get a word out, to just say anything. But only found himself choking on his words._

_The girl with the shoulder-length pink hair noticed everyone staring, but still remained blank faced. Even the teacher was staring at her in complete shock._

_"L-L…. Luka!" Gakupo tore off his seat, racing to the girl. He practically tackled the girl, but he didn't care. He was still taller than her, but that only made her small body mold into his better. He held her head into his shoulder, trying to get as close to the girl as possible. He gripped his arms around the girl as tightly as possible, inhaling her sweet scent. He could feel tears brink at his eyes, but he was far from caring. Luka was alive. Luka was safe. Luka was here with him._

_Suddenly it was as if the air had picked him up, and carried him off the girl. But it wasn't as smooth as that. He crashed into the front desk, smacking his head harshly on the hard wood. He was completely winded and short of breath. But most of all he was extremely confused. Had Luka done that?_

_He heard footsteps in his direction, and only just managed to raise his head to see Luka standing above him._

_"Don't you ever touch me again." The girl spat harshly._

_Gakupo couldn't believe his ears. Was this the same girl who used to never be able to hurt a fly? "L-Luka. It's me, Gakupo. Don't you remember?"_

_The girl's eyes scanned the boy closely. Suddenly she took a step back, eyes slightly wider. "G-Gakupo?"_

_Gakupo felt a wave of relief rush over him. She remembered him. She must of done that as a reflex, seeing how her family had been murdered. "Yeah, it's me."_

_Suddenly her face tightened again. She snapped her hand down and grabbed his collar, pulling it to her face. "Gakupo. Don't you ever do something like that ever again. You and I may have shared a brief time together in the past. But now it's over. You are just another pathetic wizard."_

_She dropped his collar suddenly, sending another wave of pain as his head collided with the ground. He heard Luka make her way to a seat, but he couldn't even think straight._

_What had happened to his Luka?_


	4. Chapter Four

**Sorry it took a little while to get this up. School work and stuff. (Just a heads up, Mikuo isn't Miku's brother in this story)**

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><p><span>Chapter Four<span>

"Gakupo!" As if on cue, the room was filled with shocked voices. But I didn't care; I just couldn't stop thinking about Luka's face after I said those words that sent her off the edge. Whatever happened to her family, it had seriously affected her, scarred her for life.

I felt guilty. I had gone too far. Thinking over it now, I realized how much of a jerk I was being to Luka. I longed to go apologize, but at the moment, it would be a miracle if I could stand up without crashing back down again.

"Gakupo, what happened?" Miku and the others surrounded me. Gumi scanned my body, looking for any possible broken bones. She stood back up, giving me a pained look.

"Luka right?"

I didn't have to respond. Everyone already knew the answer. Gumi let out a long sigh. "Well, you don't seem to have any broken bones. Just a lot of bruises and bumps. And I'm going to need to check out your head." She informed, cleaning what I realized was blood from the back of my head.

The girl closed her eyes, muttering to herself. I knew it looked bad. I knew it looked like Luka was in the wrong. I wanted to explain, to tell everyone how I deserved to be like I was, but I barely had the strength.

"L-L…L-" I was cut off by suddenly being thrown in a coughing fit. I began to cough up blood on myself but thankfully Gumi placed a tissue over my mouth.

Gumi sighed. "Yes. I know. Luka did this to you."

I could now start to hear the mutters and hushed whispers of the others. They all were saying the same things. How Luka was a horrible leader.

Suddenly I was pulled to my feet. I looked to my right to see Kaito smiling at my right, whilst Kiyoteru was on my left.

"Thanks guys. Just down to the informatory please." Gumi informed the boys.

The boys started making their way down to the informatory, helping me along the way.

"Wow Gakupo. Luka really pwned you hey?" Kaito teased with a large grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile. Even in a situation like this, the boy was still in love with the girl. But then I guess I shouldn't talk.

The boys lowered me down to the bench in one of the rooms. Shortly after Gumi came in with a large box.

"Alright lets get you healed." She said, opening the box.

After an hour of being wiped with special concoctions, swallowing multiple medicines, and having the back of my head stitched. It was finally over. I thanked Gumi. I was glad we had her.

"Alright Gakupo. You should be all good in about a week's time. Just in time too." She said, packing up her box.

Suddenly the door burst open. "Gakupo. I expect you ready and well for next week. No exceptions." Luka said in a hollow voice.

I didn't have the courage to respond.

* * *

><p>As the night began to slowly slink it's way into the sky, we entered the great city. I had prayed that maybe I was just sick, and this weak feeling would pass away. But… It only got worse with each second. My head fell limp, eyes burning into the ground. I knew the answer; I just didn't want to believe it. Why? Why now? Why after all this time? It made no sense.<p>

My legs had began to shake slightly with each step I took. I knew that I was only going to get worse. I tried to distract myself off the current situation I was in by inspecting the city. I couldn't help but forget about my worries and smile when my eyes laid upon its beauty. It was truly magnificent, no wonder it was known all over Aquaridon. Thousands of beautiful fairy lights were hung everywhere they could be hung. They were wrapped on buildings, trees, lamp posts, everything! Another huge factor in the decorations were most defiantly all the colours. Reds, pinks, yellows, they were all splashed all over the city. I felt as if I was inside a rainbow.

We walked down the long road that divided the buildings along the middle. I was keeping a very steady pace, making sure we would reach our destination at the designated time. However, it was difficult, with all the other Vocaloids slowing down every five seconds to gaze at something they already saw. Why? Why was I forced to be surrounded by idiots?

I was about to turn around to snap at them for what felt like the hundredth time, but snapped back instantly when a hand was placed on my shoulder. I glared up at the figure, instantly knowing who it was.

"What now Gakupo?"

Instead of cowering in fear like I would of preferred, he just gave me a sweet smile. That boy…. Why was he so different to the others? Even after slamming him into a wall, he didn't hide from me.

"Come on Luka, let them have their fun. Besides, if you lecture them again, we'll be even more late."

I scowled, why did he have to always be right? I harshly pulled my shoulder from under his hand, walking in fury towards our destination. "Fine, but YOU get them to move faster."

I clenched my fists together with each step I took. Why did he bother trying to be kind and sweet to me? It was pointless. If he was trying to earn my respect or something, he should just give up. There was nothing that would ever change the way I viewed the others.

Nothing would change it.

* * *

><p><em>Clack. Clack. Clack.<em>

_A sudden figure entered the dark room quickly, not hesitating for a second._

_"Your greatness, is it time?" The man asked in slight fear._

_The man at the window brushed his hand softly against the glass, pausing to think for a second. Suddenly an evil grin exploded onto his sinister face._

_"It's time."_

* * *

><p>"My, My! The famous Luka Megurine! What an honour it is to be in your presence." The young, blonde haired man smiled widely at me, his purple eyes shining. Respectively, I returned his kind greeting, shaking his hand in a friendly manner. "The pleasure is all ours Mr. Mayor. We humbly thank you for inviting us to participate in this year's festival."<p>

The young man's grin just widened. "Of course! It wouldn't be a festival without Aquaridon's best mages!"

The rest of the Vocaloids all smiled at the Mayor, before parting off to the duties they were assigned too. Since we were invited to be part of the main act, we offered to help set up for the festival. Members like Miku, who were able to fly, were assigned the duty of hanging up sparkling signs and other shining things to attract people, whilst Rin and some other girls were lighting up the place.

I walked around, inspecting the others work. If we were to have any slip-ups, the whole world would know. And I would be the main one to blame.

"Well… You haven't changed a bit." A familiar voice stated in amusement.

I froze completely. I recognized that voice anywhere. I spun around, glaring down the teal-haired boy in front of me.

"Mikuo. What do you want with me now?" I snapped.

The boy grinned, happy with my response. "Luka. How long has it been? Seven years? Much too long. Seeing how I do work for the Mayor now, I thought I'd say hello."

I grimaced at the boy. The last time I saw him, he hated me. He thought I was the scum of the earth. He despised absolutely everything about me. Even though I was only ten years old.

"What have you come to do now Mikuo? Yell at me more? Tell me once again how I'm so pitiful? How it's my fault that my entire family is dead?" Just bringing up the last of that sentence caused me to choke slightly on my words. Just speaking about it still made me feel weak to my knees. Mainly because I did honestly feel like it was my fault that they were dead.

I could see Mikuo's eyes fill with hate. "Don't you dare make me look like the bad person here. It's your fault. It's YOUR fault that Luki is dead!"

"You think I didn't love Luki? That I didn't fight for him? I did! Everything I did, all the horrible things I had to do, I did it so they could live!" I retorted in anger. However, I still felt a horrible pain in my heart.

Mikuo just shook his head. "Well obviously you didn't do a very good job. Seeing how they're all dead." He whispered. "Even poor Lulu… She wasn't even in school yet."

"Don't you dare bring up Lulu!" I yelled at the boy. Just hearing her name made me want to burst into tears.

"Whatever Luka. I just hope one day you receive what you deserve." He said finally, before parting.

I fought viciously against the tears that were daring to fall out of my eyes.

"L-Luka?" A soft voice asked behind me.

I turned around to inspect the person who called out, quickly wiping my eyes. I tried my best to forget about what just happened. I instantly softened my expression when I noticed who it was. It was the youngest member in Vocaloid, Kaai Yuki. The young girl at the mere age of nine.

"Yes Yuki?" I asked carefully, knowing how delicate the girl could be. She looked harmless, but when she got mad, she could rival top members like Rin and Kaito. I had been the one who brought her into Vocaloid. I had found her crying and screaming in a car that was far off the road, upside down. She had been in the backseat, with her parents up the front, driving home from a show they had gone to watch. They must of lost control, and crashed. Her parents died instantly, but Yuki managed to get out okay.

Yuki saw me like a mother, and only trusted me in Vocaloid. Well, Kiyoteru and me, the girl had a strange connection with the boy.

"What do… I do?" The girl asked, sounding a bit scared. She must have seen what I did to Gakupo earlier today.

I smiled at the girl slightly, holding her hand comfortingly. "You can come help me okay?"

She raised a head a bit more, showing off a small smile. "Really Luka?"

I nodded, letting myself smile a bit more.

As I walked off with the little girl, I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching me…

But it couldn't be.

The crowed cheered in delight as Miku and Lapis flew the air, a long trail of sparkling blue following behind them. Lapis held her hand to the sky, and suddenly a rain of shimmering stars fell over the crowd, as if it was snowing.

Miki stood next to Piko, on top of a water dome the Kaito was holding above the city. Suddenly what looked like a thousand of butterflies flew through the air, guided by Piko's golden flames.

The rest of the Vocaloids made a hard effort to provide a great show, and by the look of the audience faces, it was paying off.

Suddenly I was being lifting into the air, standing on top of Kaito's fountain of water. I stood confidently on the water as I looked down at the crowd. Over on the other side of the city, not too far away, was Gakupo. He looked down at the audience smiling and waving. Even standing so high up, I could still hear the scream of the audience.

"IS THAT… GAKUPO?"

"IT IS!"

"AM I DREAMING? IS THAT LUKA?"

"GAKUPO MARRY ME!"

"LUKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Gakupo and I nodded at each other, seriously looking at each other's eyes.

I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the act I was about to perform with Gakupo. I held my arm to the sky confidently, however a piercing scream made my arm freeze in its position. I froze, and looked down at the audience, to see a young girl pointing up to the sky.

Everyone looked up at the sky, trying to see what was happening. Suddenly, we all saw it. It looked like a bright star that was gradually growing bigger. It was heading for us, like a huge laser.

I couldn't breath. I couldn't move. I could only stare, frozen in fear.

"I-Impossible." I breathed.

Everyone in the audience started running, trying to get out of the light's path. It was havoc.

"LUKA!" Gakupo's voice screamed. I was too frozen. I couldn't even turn to look at him.

The rest of the Vocaloids were trying to stop the light, throwing attacks as best they could, but nothing was working. The light was growing bigger, growing closer by the second. Everyone could sense the amazing magical energy in the light. It wasn't some show, it was an attack.

I felt goose bumps when I heard a tear filled scream. I recognized that scream anywhere, it was Yuki.

Suddenly I snapped into action. I jumped off the fountain that held me up, and onto the roof of a building next where I was. I inspected the light. There was no doubt. It was him. I clenched my fists, if I was going to protect everyone, I would have to do it quickly.

The Vocaloids had gathered in a small group, gazing up at me. I looked down at them, before giving them an insuring nod.

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on what I was about to do. I pulled all my magic power around my body, before snapping my eyes open. I flung my arms out, shooting black flames into the night sky. It formed into a large shield, which expanded into a dome. The dome stretched over the Vocaloids and myself. The city members had all run away, leaving us behind. I looked at the light; it was just about to reach contact with my dome. I clenched my toes, shut my eyes and braced myself.

Suddenly I felt the laser come in contact with the dome. The incredible force pushed me back a few paces, but I kept my control. Holding back such a force wasn't an easy thing. I felt as if my arms would give in any second, and I'd fall to my knees. I yelled as loud as I could, trying to distract myself from the pain of holding myself together.

I heard the building I was standing on start to crack and break. It was no surprise. The amount of magical energy coming from both the laser and my magic could easily destroy an entire city in one blow. A sudden fear struck me. If the building would collapse before the laser faded, it would be over. My defense would be broken if I were to lose my ground. I shook away the thought, just trying to put every single fiber of my being into this defense.

Everything in my body ached, begging to stop and take a break, but I couldn't, I wouldn't let it. I screamed at the bright laser, as if I was trying to scare it away.

I could suddenly see the laser beginning to fade, the attack was finishing. I began to lower my arms when the bright light that was attacking finally dissolved away. It was gone. I had saved us.

I could suddenly hear cheers from behind me. I turned around to see everyone clapping and cheering for me. I smiled down at Yuki, who had tears of joy filled in her eyes. Suddenly my exhausted body couldn't stand anymore, I had lost all my strength. My limp body fell off the building, sailing towards the ground. I couldn't do anything but enjoy the way the air flew against my skin.

I could hear what now sounded like a faint voice scream my name, I could tell that voice anywhere. In what felt like a swift catch, I fell into Gakupo's strong, catching arms.

As I was slowly blacking out, I felt him hold me carefully, stroking my hair softly. His soothing voice eased me off to a beautiful dream.

A dream where I forgot what was going to happen.


	5. Chapter Five

**WARNING: Long description ! Sorry !**

**Hey guys. Before you read, it would be reeeeaally good if you could just scan this. I have been a bit hesitant to continue on, just because I only have a total of three reviews. Honestly, I don't mind how many reviews I get, but I feel like if there are only three, then not a lot of people are reading this? So I feel a bit awkward, continuing a story that barely anyone is reading. So if you could do me a favor is you are reading this, just to leave a review. It doesn't have to be in great detail, just something short and sweet to let me know you are actually reading this. ****Cool thanks :)**

**And also, sorry for taking forever to upload this. But I've been really busy with half yearlys, and NAPLAN and a whole bunch of other tests. So writing and editing totally left my mind. I felt bad that I hadn't uploaded in a while, so I just wanted to get it out as soon as possible. And I was also suffering writer's block, so this chapter is quite short.**

**Gosh. Sorry !**

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><p><span>Chapter Five<span>

By the time I stirred, the whole group was staring at me in utter shock and horror. It suddenly came to my attention that I was drenched in sweat, and my throat felt hoarse and dry. Gakupo was kneeling by my side, clutching my hand tightly, as if I was in some great pain.

I frowned. The surroundings around me looked unfamiliar. "W-Where are we?"

"Near the woods, outside The Great City. We wanted to find a good place for rest." Gakupo explained, still looking down at me in fear.

I sat up quickly, but however was softly guided back to lie down by Gakupo's hand.

"Luka… I think you should just rest." He said carefully, still clutching my hand fiercely.

It annoyed me greatly when I realized his grip was too hard to break. So I could only hope he would release my hand soon. However, I did manage to swat away his other hand that was now holding my shoulder.

"Gakupo. Do not tell me what to do." I snapped fiercely. I was the leader, I didn't take any advice from the others. "I'm fine. The blast may have winded me, but I'm fine now."

He frowned softly. "Luka… Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" I questioned in a sharp voice.

He suddenly brought down his free hand and wiped away a tear I suddenly realized was sliding down my cheek. I realised that there were much more dried tears that were now stained on my face.

"Last night, after you past out. You were screaming. Like you were having a bad dream. A really bad dream. You screamed all night long, like you were in great pain. But you kept yelling out "Ace." You were begging him to stop…" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

The others were still looking at me with worry in their eyes. By the way their faces were stained with fear, I really must have been going crazy. But the strange thing was, I didn't remember any of it. If I really thought about it, I could just picture some vague flashes of a dream. But nothing I could really understand.

"Luka, you were the only one who knew how to stop that beam last night…. How could you possibly know?" Miku asked.

The others nodded in agreement.

I hung my head in shame. Although I knew this day was bound to come, I wasn't prepared for the fear and anger it brought me.

"It's time." I barely made out into a whisper.

The other just looked at me in confusion as an answer.

"The Master's warning. The warning he told all of us. The day that magic would disappear, and the Dark Magic King would come. It's time." I sunk my head futher, not having the strength to face the others.

"B-But that's impossible!" Meiko stated in shock.

I slowly shook my head. "No. It's true. The dark wizard Ace's time has finally come. When Master warned people all those years ago about magic disappearing… well that day had come. Ace is coming."

"B-But, our powers are fine!" Rin exclaimed, showing off a quick attack on Miku.

"OW!" The teal headed girl yelled. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Rin only smiled sheepishly.

"L-Luka? That's not true, right?" Yuki asked, touching my arm.

I was so filled with my own fear to even get my lips to work anymore. I wonder how long it had been since I had felt like this. So… weak, frozen with fear. There was only one person that could make me feel like this, and it was him. After all, he did ruin my life.

"Rin's right. Theres no way that everyone's magic could be gone if ours is fine." Gakupo stated.

I shook my head. "Only our magic is still intact. The dome I sealed over us protected us from the blast. Everyone else in all of Aquridon has no magical power at all."

I could hear everyone take in a short breath in shock. "Y-You don't mean-"

"Yes." I interrupted. "Us, and the people who attacked us are the only people in all of Aquridon that have magic."

Everyone looked at each other with open mouths. Suddenly reality struck them. If even I, the best female mage in all of Aquridon barely made it out of the blast, then the attacker's powers had to be insanely powerful.

"Wow." Len breathed. His face, as well as the others seemed completely drained of colour. The Vocaloids had never faced a challenge so great. And only I knew of the real horrors to come.

Suddenly a voice spoke up. "W-Well, hope isn't lost! Aquaridon still has us! We can beat anyone!"

Everyone rose a brow at Gakupo. He smiled in response. "Come on guys, We are world famous! Everyone knows us because of how ridiculously powerful we are! I don't care if the Master said that this Ace guy is all powerful! We can take him down. Wanna know why? Because we are the Vocaloids!" He encouraged, lifting the spirits of the members.

Piko suddenly jumped to his feet. "Gakupo's right! We can do this!"

"Yea!" Lily proudly exclaimed.

Soon every member was on their feet, looking extremely confident. I looked up at them in shock. They really believed we could do this. Even though the odds were most defiantly not in our favor. But that didn't even faze them.

A hand held out in front of me suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Come on Luka. We can't do anything without our amazing leader." Gakupo said.

I could hardly think straight. "You really think..?"

They all shot me wide grins. The strength in their eyes were incredible. Their belief and courage gave me the strength to take Gakupo's hand.

In one swift moment I was pulled up, facing my crowd.

"Well then, we've got some work to do, don't we?"

Because it was late, we decided to take rest in the city, before setting off tomorrow. Since the city was deserted, we decided to just go inside the nearest building. Boys stayed downstairs, while the girls headed upstairs. It was pretty late, plus everyone was exhausted from today's events, so it wasn't long until I was surrounded by the quiet breathing of the girls.

However, I couldn't stop tossing. Closing my eyes was out of the question. Every time they fluttered shut, I couldn't stop picturing Ace smirking down at me, knowing that our time was running short.

After what I gathered to be ten minutes, I gave up. I winced a bit at the cold that suddenly hugged my body once I ripped off the blanket. I hadn't expected the weather to suddenly drop. Speaking of weather, I swear I could hear the soft patter of rain hitting the roof. I heading over towards the window, to see my prediction was indeed, correct. I frowned. Rain was the last thing we needed right now. Perhaps Kaito or Miku could stop it.

I placed my hand on the window's surface, tracing down one of the falling drops of rain. I let myself give a small smile. I broke away from the window, suddenly feeling an urge to get a drink. I knew that downstairs had a small work kitchen, so there was a high chance of finding a tap and a glass in there. I silently tiptoed past the sleeping girls, trying not to hit any creaking wood panels. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when I finally reached the staircase.

I quickly rushed down the stairs. The cold was getting to me and all I wanted was to be under my warm blanket. I made it about halfway when I suddenly halted in my tracks.

Gakupo's breathing was soft, but my sensitive ears could hear it from here. He seemed to be in the same situation as me. He was placed on the window's ledge, looking aimlessly out at the night sky.

I wasn't sure what to do. I felt that it would be rude to barge down there and disrupt whatever he was thinking about. So instead, I ran back upstairs and plonked myself underneath my blanket before my toes dropped off from the cold.

* * *

><p>This morning I felt horrible. It took all the strength I had to pull myself away from my warm blanket I had wrapped myself in, and get everyone up. It didn't take long until the others realized my poor condition. But given the fact I was pale, slurring my words and burning up like crazy, a monkey could have figured it out.<p>

"Luka, I really think we should stay. You should get more rest. Just look at you." Gumi pushed, trying to lie my down.

"No." I grumbled, pushing her away. "I'm fine. Besides, if I stay it will only hold back our mission."

"Nevertheless, I still think for your benefit, you should stay." She lightly pressed her hand to my forehead. "Gosh Luka. You're really burning up."

I swatted her hand away. "I don't care! Ace won't be stopped with me resting."

Gumi sighed, admitting defeat. I knew the girl was probably right. But I couldn't just admit defeat so easily. I had to keep going.

I meekly got to my feet. "Right. So let's go."

* * *

><p>"I'm cold."<p>

I sighed as I rubbed my aching forehead. Lily's complaints wouldn't end. But it wasn't her alone, all the others would have the nerve to speak up, to voice how they were "cold" and "wet". I would of turned around to give them a good lesson, but I was too busy trying to walk straight.

"Guys. Stop." Gakupo scolded.

I felt a little more at ease by Gakuo's help. But it wasn't long until the complaining started working it's way up again.

It was a miserable day. The worst to be travelling on.

The sky was a frightening grey, and slight thunder could be heard rumbling from the clouds. There was a horrible chill in the wind, that came along with the steady rain. Over-all, we were all going to be sick before we found our next place to camp. However, I was going to make sure that wasn't until we had covered a large distance.

"Luka, where are we going exactly?" Miku asked.

Her question completely threw me off guard. "I uh… I had done some research before on the myth of the dark wizard Ace. It says that the Master said he lives in a place shrouded with darkness. Where all evil sits."

"The Akuma cave?" Miku guessed.

I nodded. "Yes. Other wizards have tried going there, looking for Ace. However none have returned."

Miku looked slightly pale. "That assures it then."

I bit my lip nervously. I couldn't give them the real truth about how I knew it was the Akuma cave. I wasn't sure if that was true, but by the looks on everyone's face, I doubt they wanted to know more of the horrible things about the Akuma cave. Just thinking about it made my hands feel weak again.

The next step I took I halted in my tracks. I felt like… something had left me. Like I had suddenly been stripped of something. My breathing was starting to shudder.

"Luka, are you alright?" The others asked, who were now a short while a head of me.

I shook my head furiously. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine." I stated before marching in front again. Well, my current version of marching. My legs were wobbling all over the place. I clenched my fists furiously when I heard some of the Vocaloids snicker.

I knew why I was feeling this way. Ace. He was probably sitting down in his cave, receiving his pleasure as he could see me so vulnerable. So weak. I'm sure he's feeding off of it. It drove me insane just thinking about it.

My vision was really starting to blur. I couldn't keep my self steady much anymore. I was fighting to keep myself awake.

Once I felt a light touch on my arm I collapsed into the nearest pair of arms that my body found.


	6. Chapter Six

**Oh my gosh, flood of reviews... O.o. Just so you know I wasn't begging for reviews, I just judge myself harshly. So I feel like no reviews = No readers. No readers = Me being a horrible writer.**

**~Bridge**

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><p><span>Chapter Six<span>

When I opened my eyes I was completely surrounded. Hundreds of eyes were peering down at me intensely, not letting me out of their sight. I felt slightly relieved when I noticed the familiar faces of the Vocaloids.

"Guys! I-"

Something was wrong.

Their eyes. Every single pair of beady, little eyes were glaring down with utter darkness. No colour, no light. Just emptiness. They all seemed to be shaking their heads in disgust. Shaking their heads at me.

Hissing whispers clouded my mind.

"She's horrible."

"She doesn't even care if her friends die."

"Scum."

I shook my head furiously, trying to shake the now screaming voices out of my head. I froze when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

The face I looked up at made my jaw drop open.

"Luka." My mother hissed. "You're a disgrace."

A dark, cackling laugh filled the air. Before I could get my head straight, the ground caved in, and I was suddenly falling into the endless darkness beneath.

"Gakupo, anything new?" Gumi came in, doing her usual checkup routine.

"Just the routine again."

Gumi frowned.

"Is this normal behavior Gumi?" I noticed Luka's face was now drenched in sweat.

Gumi just sighed. "I'm still not sure what the cause is. I would think it's just a fever, but with her strange actions lately, who knows."

I gave the girl a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help Gumi."

"That's my job." She turned and left, scribbling notes into a folder titled "Luka Megurine."

I sat back down in the chair next to the bed Luka was lying in. Well, it was sort of a bed. When Luka passed out on Kaito, we were all kind of dumbstruck. We hurried into the nearest shelter finding anything that could help her. We were far away from the city, in the farming areas. We found an abandoned shed that was luckily not too far away. We made her a small bed out of some soft hay we found, and covered her with any warmth possible.

The others were all outside, training. But you could see they were distracted about Luka. Some of the members may have claimed they wanted nothing to do with her, but every single one of us loved Luka. She was our leader, and a mother to many.

I lost track of how many times Luka had thrown up. She would keep thrashing around, clenching her fists in her sleep. Then bolt up, either breathe deeply or whisper something, throw up and then pass out again. It seemed like the normal thing now.

A huge problem now lay on all of our shoulders. Our biggest threat was now completely unable to fight. But also, Luka was our leader. How were we meant to go barging on in without a leader to mentor and help us? We were all completely clueless.

Lily, Iroha and a few others thought we should just give up. Go back to living our lives with our magic and forget about the mission. And it seemed like the only option, but sadly, there would be a bigger cost.

If we just went back, and lived our lives. That means every single other living person in Aquaridon would die. Wizards can't live without magic. They need it to survive. It's like being born with a vital organ that's about to die. You live for a short while, but soon enough, maybe in a week, you die.

It had now been three days since magic was lost. We slept the first night, travelled a short while the second day, and now we've spent two days here. Just hoping Luka would be getting better soon.

So that meant we had a grand total of five days until game over. And we knew that if we let game over happen, we would never forgive ourselves. Not to mention whoever wiped the magic would be hunting us down.

I heard a soft knock come from the door.

"Hello?" Kaito called, taking a small step inside.

"Hey."

Kaito pushed the door behind him, making sure it was quiet enough not to disturb Luka. Like that would be any difference. She wouldn't wake up if we tipped a bucket of water over her head.

"How's she doing?"

I looked back down at the sleeping girl. "The same."

Kaito took a seat next to her, taking a small strand of her hair in his hands. "More nightmares?"

"Yeah."

Kaito sighed, brushing the soaked hair out of her eyes. I felt bad for the poor guy. He had bags under his eyes. He had obviously been too busy worrying about Luka to get any sleep.

"Hey Gakupo."

"Yeah?"

He paused for a moment, hesitating on his question. "Do you think she'll ever wake up?"

I hadn't thought about that. I was worried about what was going on Luka's mind, and her health. The thought that she might never wake up completely frightened me.

"N-Never mind." Kaito must have noticed the shock in my expression.

I knew he meant well, just asking a question that was worrying him. But I couldn't get it out of my mind. Was there a possibility that Luka might never wake up?

"Hey Gakupo. It was a stupid question. She'll be fine. She's our Luka remember?" Kaito reminded.

I shook out the insecurities in my mind. He was right. No one was stronger than Luka. "Yeah."

Kaito and I should be enemies. We should want to fight each other over the love of Luka, but we couldn't. We shared our differences and understood each other. We both knew how hard it was, loving a girl like Luka.

But it wasn't always this way. We used to be what we should be now. Rivals. Except this time it wasn't for love. It was just purely because I loved Luka, and he despised her.

_Flashback_

"_Hey guys! Look what I found!"_

_Kaito proudly stepped onto a table, showing off something in his hands. The eleven-year-old boy stole the attention of everyone in the class. The item in his hands seemed to be a small, pink book._

"_What is that Kaito?" Miku asked._

_The boy grinned. "It's that stupid witch Luka's diary! She left it on her desk yesterday after school!"_

_Everyone gasped. No one had the courage to even speak to Luka. If she had found out that Kaito had her diary, he would be dead._

"_Luka has a diary? Who knew witches kept diaries?" One of Kaito's friends said._

"_Well. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to read it!" Kaito proudly announced._

"_Kaito." A loud voice from the back of the class suddenly roared. "Don't touch Luka's diary."_

"_Oh yeah Gakupo? And what are you going to do about it? Tell your little girrrllfrieeend?" The class burst into hysterics. _

_Kaito flipped open the book, not caring about Gakupo's warning._

_Gakupo filled with rage. He knew there was no point trying to talk him out of it, so he'd just let himself be a fool._

_Kaito's face suddenly lit up. "Oh my gosh.. You guys need to see this."_

"_What is it Kaito?" The class suddenly roared._

_Kaito grinned. "Dearr Diaryy!" He said in a horrible high-pitched tone. "Gakupo is sooo sweet! Today he helped me when my bag broke and everything fell out! He carried them home for me! He's so nice. Unlike those other brats in my class. He's smart, cute, nice and just everything! I really, really like him!"  
>All eyes were suddenly on Gakupo. He couldn't stop his face turning red.<em>

"_Luka likes… me?" The boy whispered to himself._

_Suddenly the door slammed open. The figure in the doorway still had their hand holding the door against the wall. The figure's shoulder-length hair covered their eyes. However, the class knew those eyes would be burning with rage._

"_Kaito.." Luka hissed. "SHION!"_

_Luka lunged from her spot, tackling the boy off the desk. She picked him up and threw him against the wall. She closed her hands around the boy's next, her eyes were burning with hatred._

_Kaito scratched at her hands, gasping for air. His face began to turn red. His eyes became desperate. However Luka didn't move at all._

"_Luka stop!" Gakupo suddenly clung onto the girl. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Luka's hands suddenly froze. She stopped squeezing and just gazed at the boy who had his arms around her._

_She let go of Kaito's neck; he suddenly collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. But that didn't faze Luka. Her face was a bright red, and her eyes were swelling with tears._

_She shoved Gakupo away and turned her face away from the class._

"_I… I HATE YOU ALL!" She suddenly screamed before leaving and slamming the door behind her._

_The only thing that was heard in the classroom was Kaito's heavy breathing._

Kaito's hatred towards Luka stayed the same way for years. That was until she saved him. Kaito's family hated him. He was a mistake, and they wouldn't let him forget it. One night Luka found him on the street in the pouring rain. His father had obviously beat him, and thrown him out of the house.

That night Luka asked for Kaito's help. She asked him to join the Vocaloids.

And that was the night he fell in love with her.

It felt strange now, knowing that the guy was now under her spell, as I had been for the past fourteen years.

"She's something special huh." Kaito sighed.

I felt bad for him. Every time he attempted to speak to Luka, she straight up turned him away. At least I could have conversations with her.

"I'm going to go back to training. You sure you don't want to come?" Kaito asked.

I shook my head. "Nah. I'll stay here a little longer."

Kaito nodded before leaving the shed.

I knew it would be better for me to train with the others. After all, if Luka didn't wake up, I would be the one calling the shots. But for the time being, I just couldn't leave her alone here.

Although I had spent the last two nights wide awake, clutching her hand when she was suffering her nightmares. So I could defiantly go for a short nap.

I hopped off the chair I was sitting on to lie down next to Luka's bed. I stole a bunch of hay and rested my head peacefully on it. Before I knew it, I was dead asleep.

The sound of a hissed whisper made me stir from my nap.

"Gakupo." I felt my shoulder being shaken. "Gakupo!"

The hisses got louder. "Gakupo you dumb idiot!"

I sat up, rubbing my sleepy eyes. "God damn it. What?"

Luka's disapproving gaze was the first thing to greet me. "Is that any way to speak to your leader? Hmmph. Thought someone like you would have more respect."

I couldn't believe it. She was awake! And as Luka as ever.

"Luka!" I almost yelled, suddenly attacking her with a hug. "Thank god!"

"Okay, okay. You can get off me. It's not like I died." She protested, trying to yank me off her.

"You could of. You were continuously puking and passing out!" I exclaimed.

She seemed slightly shocked. "I was?"

"Yeah.

"Hmm."

She must not of remembered the puking episodes.

'I need to go get Gumi. She better check up on you." I jumped up and ran out of the shed before Luka had a moment to respond.

The fresh air that suddenly hit me felt a lot better than the cooped up air I was sitting in for two days. I took in a deep breath before sprinting, trying to find Gumi.

The others were training still. I could see they were putting all of their effort into it. Even Lily, who cried every time she broke a nail.

"Gumi!" I screamed. For a girl with bright green hair she was sure hard to find.

Some of the members looked surprised to see me outside the shed. When some of them noticed the huge smile on my face, they realized it could only be good news.

I started to run when I suddenly saw the green haired girl. I called out her name again until she finally turned around.

"What I-"

Suddenly what looked like a huge force pushed Gumi from her spot. She went sailing through the air, about to crash into the ground. I only just manage to jump, and catch her in time.

We all looked up to see where the mysterious attack had come from. When suddenly, a cackling laugh rippled through the fields we were placed on.

"Ha! Pathetic Vocaloids. This will be a piece of cake."

A figure made it's way into our view, standing on top of a small hill. The man smiled viciously. "Well, well, well. Looks like we've got the whole show here. Boys!"

Suddenly what looked like hundreds of identical men ran down to the bottom on the hill, snickering like crazy.

"Copy magic." A voice below me whispered.

"Gumi?"

"His magic. He uses it to spilt himself into hundreds of copies of himself."

I looked up at all the figures around their leader. They were all identical. "But, they can't be as strong as the original right?"

Gumi frowned. "I can only assume he's been trained by Ace. If so, then all those minions should still be very powerful."

This was crazy, how could powerful was this Ace guy anyway?

"Who are you?" Kaito demanded.

The man just smiled. "Oh, I don't think that matters. The only thing important right now.." The hundreds of minions looked viciously at us, licking their lips. "Is killing you all."

Suddenly the minions all charged at us. However, they weren't quick enough to surprise attack us. By the time they were at our feet, ready to attack, we had already knocked some minions down.

"AH!" I spun around to see Rin clutching her hand. Straight down the middle of her palm was a deep cut. Blood was staining her clothes and the ground beneath her. We all suddenly noticed the long talons on the minion's hands. One swipe at your neck and you'd be a goner.

Len looked like he was about to kill all of them. We all seemed awestruck as he suddenly slashed and blew tens of minions everywhere.

The small weight that I had been carrying suddenly lifted off.

"Gumi! W-"

But she had already gone off to fight minions. "I'll be fine! Go to Luka! She's by herself and weak! We can't afford one of these guys getting to her!"  
>I froze. I had completely forgot about Luka. How could I be so careless? I nodded at the girl, however she was too preoccupied dodging long talons.<p>

I desperately tried to push past the fighting Vocaloids, trying not to get swooped in their attacks. I quickly dogged around a minion before sprinting at full force towards the shed. I had to protect Luka. If anything happened to her I wouldn't forgive myself.

I shoved and kicked my way through debris of minions, before there were finally no more obstacles in my way.

I couldn't help but smile. It was going to be all right! I was almost there. Nothing would hurt Luka.

I had just put my hand on the shed door when the shed suddenly exploded.

* * *

><p><strong>Hahahaha. Cliffhanger.<strong>

**I'm mean ;)**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Just something quick.**

**To - Ahahaha. I'm glad I put it up earlier then. Happy Birthday! And of course *Hugs***

**I was in the writing mood. That's why it came out earlier :3**

**Sorry it took so long, I was on holidays, and I know that it should mean that I should have been publishing more, but I've been in under so much stress at school that I just wanted to sit down and die a little. Plus I'm also writing another story at the moment. It's KaitoxLuka, and the first chapter should be up soon :))) It's different to the stories I've written, so I'm not sure how it'll turn out.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter seven<strong>

When I finally managed to open my eyes, the world was blurring around me. My head was pounding like crazy, and there was an insane ringing in my ears. I managed to roll over to my side to cough up what I knew could only be blood.

I moaned in pain as I rolled onto my back again. That was the only moving I'd be doing for a while.

I took a moment to get my thoughts around. I tried to remember what happened.

We were heading… somewhere. We had to stop because… someone was… hurt? There was a..a shed and we put that someone in there. Suddenly… something attacked… I was running… Trying to protect something… Someone. The someone who needed to come to the shed.

Suddenly it hit me.

Luka.

I had made it to the shed when it exploded. I had made it out of the explosion alive. But... my main goal had failed.

I felt my entire body go numb as I realized that Luka was dead. I wasn't fast enough to get there on time. And now, some stupid minion had probably blown her up.

I tried to stay calm, given the current state I was in. But I just couldn't. I had let Luka die. The blurriness in my eyes only got worse by my own tears. Even though I felt like all of my bones would snap, and my head would fall off, I managed to pull myself onto my feet.

I was going to kill every single one of these bastards. And then, Ace would be next. Even if it killed me, I was going to murder him.

I wiped my eyes. My vision was now almost perfect, however the throbbing in my head or the ringing in my ears still hadn't subsided. I suddenly noticed the state of the other Vocaloids.

Most of them stood completely frozen, eyes wide open. Miki was desperately clutching onto Piko's hand. Rin was balling into Len's shoulder. But poor Kaito was on his knees, his big, tear filled eyes were completely stunned at the smoking wreck behind me.

We had lost a leader, a mentor, and a friend.

We could only watch as the smoke started to fade away. However, none of use wanted to see the remains of Luka. None of us could bare it.

"How pathetic. To think you all thought a stupid attack like that could kill me."

My heart skipped a beat.

Surely enough, out stepped a flawless, unscratched Luka. It seemed like there was a large bubble of black around her, shielding her from any attack.

She still looked weak, but a lot better than before. More life had returned to her eyes.

No one said a word.

"Well? Are we going to kill these bastards or what?" Luka said with a coy smile.

* * *

><p><strong>Luka's POV<strong>

I smiled as the Vocaloid suddenly sprung into action. The minions, luckily, had been distracted by the attack that had "claimed" to kill me.

Such a pathetic man he was. Coming into the place I was resting, claiming how "He was instructed to bring me alive to Ace, but he wanted me all to himself."

The stupid bastard had no idea of my power. That explosion he brought was completely predicted. I was ready by the time he first stepped into my view.

"Well, I have to say Luka, I am impressed."

I spun around the mocking voice. My face dropped to a scowl immediately. I was face to face with the bastard that attempted to kill me.

He was a strange looking man. For one, he was huge. I hated how he so easily towered over me. His eyes were small and narrow, however his eye colour seemed almost translucent. He had short brown hair that spiked up at the top, revealing a long scar across his forehead.

"No one has ever survived a blast from me." He turned his head around, inspecting Miku suddenly unleash a wind attack on a minion. "And no one has ever gotten this far in a battle with my minions. I apologize, it seems we have under-estimated you."

My eyes arrowed into slits. "Well then it will be no trouble for you to leave then. Your attacks are child's play."

"Now, now, now Luka." His smile widened, exposing his sharp, demon-like teeth. "The fun has only just started."

His eyes seemed to flash an emerald green. I noticed that his eyes had done the same thing before the attack in the shed.

"So you can create explosions and copies of yourself? Is that it?" I mocked.

Suddenly a gush wind knocked me off my feet. I flew back about five meters, before I managed to catch the ground and bury my feet into the earth. There was only one person who had the power to control wind like that, and she was already fighting minions.

His demon smiled widened. "I can copy just about every attack that your little friends have made."

The wind attack he had just thrown at me, was the same one Miku had just done about a minute ago. It was no doubt the explosion had been a copy of an attack too.

"So when your eyes flash that green, you're basically taking the attack you've witnessed and copied it onto someone else?"

His eyes brightened. "Smart girl."

I bit my lip. It was useless throwing a harsh attack on him. He would only copy it and use it on me. Or worse, onto the other Vocaloids. I was too busy thinking of what I should do when suddenly a shot of water lunged at me.

Water filled my entire mouth, I was coughing and gagging all the while more water flooded my throat.

I quickly made an X by bringing my arms to my chest. I closed my eyes tightly, before throwing my arms out. Following my arms, was a large black wall like force, that suddenly pushed all the water away.

"Come on Luka, aren't you going to fight b-" He was suddenly cut off by a surge of white. He was thrown, flying through the air until he finally crashed into a tree.

I looked over to see who had attacked him. And surely enough, there he was, the big purple-haired idiot.

"What the hell was that for?" I demanded.

Gakupo looked completely shocked. "I was getting him while he was distracted!"

I smacked my forehead with my palm. "You idiot! Now h-"

Suddenly I felt the magic that I had just witnessed blow me off my feet. I went sailing for what felt like hours, before crash landing into a tree.

My head was in immense pain, seeing how I had just whacked it against the tree. I moaned in pain as I struggled to my feet.

I desperately held myself back from going over and punching Gakupo in the face. Why couldn't he just do his job?

"Luka! Are you okay?" I could feel Gakupo put his arm around, supporting me.

I angrily swatted his arm away. "Idiot! Any attack you make, he'll just copy it!"

Gakupo's face registered understanding. "You mean…"

"Yes. It's going to be difficult. To defeat this guy, me and you need to work together. Understand?"

Gakupo nodded.

"Ahem.. I hate to intrude. But are you done with your chat now?" The brunette mocked, grinning evilly.

"Try to attack from behind, I'll stay up front." I whispered so only Gakupo would hear. I smiled when I saw him silently jumping to behind the brunette.

He noticed Gakupo landing behind him. The brunette's eyes flashed the similar green from before. Suddenly he turned sideways, and raised his arms, so both palms were facing Gakupo and I.

"Now!" I screamed.

Just as the white magic from earlier escaped the brunette's palms, it met the magic that was shooting from me and Gakupo.

I stiffened my locked hands harder, forcing myself to fight off his magic. I noticed Gakupo was struggling more. Seeing how it was his magic coming from someone else, his own magic didn't understand how to fight back.

I felt my arms begin to go numb. We were desperately putting all of our magic to try to fend off the brunette's. But it was harder than anything.

I resisted the urge to clutch my aching side. I was still weak from the draining, but I would not let myself fall.

Suddenly I noticed Gakupo crash to the ground. The brunette smirked. He turned so he was facing me, arms outstretched. His eyes flashed the familiar green, before the once white magic escaping his palms were now a deathly black.

My magic.

I scowled. "You bastard."

He seemed to have heard. I could tell by the horrible smirk on his face.

I could feel my body getting weaker. It wasn't fair, I was weak, not at my full power.

I was just about to collapse when I felt a presence behind me.

"Turn." Gakupo whispered.

I did as instructed. I watched as Gakupo jumped into my place, spraying multiple attacks directed at the brunette's arm, body and feet. The brunette wasn't able to fend off all the attacks. Gakupo grinned in achievement when he crashed to the ground.

Gakupo began running over towards the man. I noticed he was turning his head. Scanning the battle between the Vocaloids and his minions.

I realized he was scanning Lily, whose Magic was super speed.

I quickly threw an ray of death magic, but it was too late. I saw the flash of green. He quickly shifted out of the way. My attacks instead destroyed a large rock behind him.

"Damn! Where did he go?" Gakupo hissed.

"He copied Lily's magic. He's going to be ten times harder to catch now." I stated.

In the corner of my eye I suddenly noticed a flash. I quickly outstretched my palm, but Gakupo was already sailing towards the ground.

I flipped my head around, desperately trying to find the man. But with his now incredible speed, it was going to be almost impossible.

Suddenly I felt an incredible force push against me. It caused me to be lifted off the ground. However, before I was sent sailing, I stuck my arm out, and grabbed the air.

However, it wasn't the air. I smiled when I looked to see the same man in my grasp. As we were sailing, I flipped over, so he was now beneath me. I made sure to keep my grip on his neck when we smacked against the ground. I heard him moan in pain, however I didn't lose my grip.

I straddled over him, making sure he wasn't going anywhere. I continuously punched him in the face before lifting him to his feet by his collar.

"Why did Ace send you?" I demanded. "Is he too much of a weakling to face us as a whole?"

The man's throaty, evil laugh frightened me. "Please. Don't make yourself to be some big, scary wizards. Ace just wants you Luka. He wants to go through some _unfinished business_."

I bit down on my lip. A strange array of feelings washed over me. I couldn't believe it. I was… scared. For once in my life, I was actually scared of Ace. What was once hatred was now just fear.

"Luka move!" Gakupo screamed suddenly.

I quickly jumped out of the way just in time. I looked up to see Gakupo attack him straight in the face. The blood curdling scream that the brunette let out set goose bumps on my skin.

I saw him fall to the ground, hands clutching over his face, continuously screaming about his eyes.

An idea suddenly struck my mind. "Gakupo! Aim for his eyes!"

He seemed confused by my demand, but nodded.

We both ran towards the man, who was now beginning to rise to his feet. "You brats!" I almost stopped running when I saw his eyes. They were now completely red, however, the unmistakable green flash around his eyes returned.

He threw Gakupo's magic everywhere. His aim wasn't perfect, seeing how he had gotten a full attack from Gakupo in the eye.

I managed to quickly dodge the flying magic rays, as did Gakupo. It wasn't long until we were in a meters distance of the man. We both nodded at each other, before directly shooting out magic into an eye each.

We didn't stop even when we heard his screams, his pleas, or even when the blood started raining down from his eyes.

Once I knew that we had accomplished our goal, I signaled for Gakupo to stop.

We walked over, looking down at the moaning man. "I-I can't see." He whispered.

"You planned to make him blind?" Gakupo questioned.

"So he couldn't see and copy any more attacks."

Gakupo smiled.

The rain seemed to pour down harder. We watched as the minions that were once there disappeared. He was too weak to fight anymore.

All the Vocaloids looked around, confused on how their opponents had suddenly disappeared. Once they noticed the fallen leader, they broke out into cheer. If everyone was so happy at this small win, they had no idea of what was to come.

"Enough!" My scream echoed throughout the open area.

Everyone froze, eyes locked on me.

"This was too close Vocaloids. We can't all move together. What happens when we're gone and more armies come?" I pointed back towards the direction we came from. "What will they do to defend their selves? They have no magic, no power. And if we go, they will have nothing to protect them."

The point I was making was starting to get across.

"S-So what do we do?" Gumi asked.

I blinked out a drop of rain. The rain only seemed to pour harder. "Miki, Piko, Kaito, Miku, Rin, Len and Gakupo, you will move forward with me. Everyone else, go back to the city. And protect the people."

Loud protests rose from the group.

"Look!" I shouted over the noise. "I know it would be better for you to come… The odds would be more in our favor. But, it's too risky. Remember, our purpose is to protect the people of Aquaridon. And if we leave them defenseless, we'll nothing to come back to."

I could see that everyone understood, but still was upset. It was understandable, it had been years since the Vocaloids had been on a mission that was exciting, and now they were being sent home to act as security. But it was for the safety of the people.

"Y-You… should just gi-give up." A voice croaked behind us. I needed not to turn, I recognized the voice from the scum we had just defeated.

I ignored the man, keeping my back faced toward him. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of falling into his threat.

"Ace… h-he'll kill you all. J-Just like… how he killed your f-family Luka."

I froze. My eyes went wide. I could sense the Vocaloids looking at me in disbelief, but I wasn't worried about them.

How could he possibly know about that? That bastard Ace must have told all of his pathetic minions... How dare he.

I shakily turned around, with eyes ready to kill. "H-How… dare you."

I didn't stop hitting him attack after attack even when I heard his screams. Instead I just marched over, tears ready to spill out my eyes. I grabbed his collar, and lifted just the top of his body from the ground. I lifted my free hand, which was glowing with a deathly cloud of black, ready to attack.

I grimaced down at the man."I know that you're pathetic Master Ace is watching us right now. So he can watch as I murder one of his pathetic minions."

I clenched my fists, the man flinched. I could feel Ace's eyes, watching down in joy.

"Luka stop!" I felt a hand grab my arm. "Stop!"

I snapped my head around to see no other than Gakupo, looking down with pleading eyes. I scowled. I knew he was right, but I desperately wanted to kill the bastard. How dare he speak of that.

I threw that man to the floor, behind shaking off Gakupo's hand. I could tell I wasn't looking very friendly, because of the way the Vocaloids were all looking at me in fear.

I pushed my nails into skin, feeling small drops of blood drip out, and mix with the pouring rain.

I looked at all the scared Vocaloid members, watching their staring eyes. I made one last scowl, before turning and walking away. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I just wanted to get away from here.

I could hear all the others calling my name in worry, but I didn't bother turning around. I just wanted to get away from this scene as possible.

I marched until I got out of the clearing we were in, and marched through the trees. In a fit of rage, I picked up countless rocks and hurled them at anything I could. I knew why I was filled with rage.

It was Ace. He was probably telling the story of how he killed my family like it was some great accomplishment. He probably fed off it. He must of loved the look on my mother's face as he watched her die.

I willed myself not to cry. It was a complete lie that time was the only helper once someone had died. Every time I thought about that afternoon, where I walked into the living room to see my family on the ground, blood everywhere, the pain felt fresh.

Suddenly my legs gave in, and I collapsed onto a tree. My breathing became shuddered. I felt completely weak again. The same way I felt before I passed out the last time.

I slowly began sliding down the tree, until my head was resting at the foot of it. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I felt like my head was about to fall off.

"Ace… y-you bastard." I managed to hiss, before blacking out in the rain.


	8. Chapter Eight

**I will be better at uploading. I'm more into the writing mood lately :))**

**~Bridge**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Eight<span>**

By the time my eyes opened it was dark. The rain had died down to a soft sprinkle, but the cold chill still lingered.

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my sore neck. The foot of a tree was the not best place to pass out.

But still, it confused me as to why no one had found me. I know I needed to blow off some steam after what happened before, but you would think if I was out this long someone would come looking.

Using the tree as support, I climbed to my feet. My whole body ached. It must have been a mixture of the battle as well as the draining.

I slowly made my way back the way I came. It wasn't easy with all the lumps and bumps on the unstable ground. The additional add of mud wasn't much help either.

I felt awful. I was stronger than before, obvious help from getting some rest. However, everything from my head to my feet ached. Also I was wet, tired and hungry.

"The life of a hero huh." I sighed bitterly to myself.

I suddenly questioned the words that left my mouth. Was I truly a hero? Sure I had done the deeds that heroes had, and the world recognized me as one, but I had never classified myself as one.

I guess I judged myself too harshly. Nothing I would ever do would be enough for me to recognize myself as a hero.

I almost fell over my own feet as I made it back to the clearing. However a strong tree was there to catch my fall. The long groan I let out caught the attention of a few figures I suddenly noticed in the trees.

"Luka!" A familiar high-pitched voice called.

I rubbed my eyes, to see only seven Vocaloid members run over. The others were no where to be found.

"Luka, what happened to you?" Piko carefully asked, given the current state I was in.

Rin touched my arm gently. "We looked everywhere for you. But once it got dark we decided to camp out here." She motioned to a little area sheltered by a large tree. There was firewood placed in the middle of the area, but by the looks of the saturated wood, there was no hope of starting a fire.

"The others.. Where are they?" I asked, ignoring their worries about me. That could wait.

Miku frowned. "They went back. Like you said."

Relief washed over me. Well, at least one thing was taken care of.

I looked over again to their pitiful camp sight. I tried not to sigh. They had tried. But still, had failed.

"Well, we need proper shelter for the night. You never know when a storm will come." Just as I finished my sentence, a soft rumble of thunder was heard in the clouds.

The others nodded in agreement.

I walked further into the clearing, looking around for potential camp sights. A small smile appeared on my face when I spotted a small cave like area, placed on top of a relatively small rocky hill.

I pointed to the cave. "There."

The others turned, seeing the camp sight. They all nodded in agreement.

"Luka do you need help getting up there?" Kaito asked politely, holding out his hands as if he was preparing to carry me.

I looked down at myself. I sure didn't look in that great shape. And as much as I did not want to admit it to myself, I really wasn't in the mood to climb a rocky hill.

"Drop me, and I'll kill you." I threatened the boy, jumping onto his back.

However, he could see through my threat. He knew that I was truly grateful for his help; I could see it in his smile that was plastered on his face.

As we made our way up the slightly steep hill, I tightened my grip around Kaito's shoulders. Although I trusted him with my whole heart, I still didn't feel very comfortable.

I was completely exhausted. It was strange though, because I had done nothing but sleep today, excluding the battle, but still. I felt my eyelids begin to droop down, and I couldn't help but burry my head into Kaito's shoulder.

I could feel the boy freeze, and let out an awkward cough. The boy's embarrassment caused Miku to turn around. Miku frowned, biting her lip. I felt a pang of guilt. I knew how much Miku liked Kaito, so this picture wouldn't really be something she'd admire.

Kaito was purely just a friend, he had always been. I could never see him as anything more. It confused me though. The boy used to always hate me. I could remember the days in school where I eavesdropped on his hushed whispers with his friends. I remember all the horrible things they used to say about me.

I would never show it, of course, but with everything I heard them say, it would really hurt me. I considered trying to change the way I was, but being the innocent Luka I once was seemed sickening.

I saw Miku turn back around, heading up the hill quicker. She huffed loudly, clenching her fists.

I bit down on my lip. Another thing confused me. Kaito used to be completely obsessed with Miku. While we were children, and even in school. He would always try to impress her with his magic, but most of the time he ended up looking like a fool.

So why did he suddenly change his mind about Miku and like me? It made no sense. Over time I had gotten worse, whilst Miku had only gotten sweeter.

I looked up to see Gakupo looking emotionless at us. He wasn't smiling, glaring or anything. Just purely observing us. When he noticed me frown at him, he turned around again, climbing up the hill.

Even after all this time that boy was still a mystery to me.

Kaito suddenly stiffened. "Luka?"

"Mm?"

He paused. I noticed him frowning. "Are we going to die?"

I sighed, looking up into the sky. I owed the boy an answer. He and everyone here deserved one.

"Most likely."

It confused me when I saw a small smile appear on his face.

"Good."

It suddenly occurred to me that he had reached the mouth of the cave. The insides looked slightly daunting, but nothing we couldn't handle. The others walked a bit further into the cave, finding a relatively cozy spot for the night.

Kaito walked over to where the cave was tucked away from the moon's light. He let me jump off his back before looking for his own spot.

I quickly grabbed his wrist. He turned around looking scared.

I couldn't help but smirk. "Kaito, chill. I wanted to say thank you."

He relaxed, then looked confused. "Really?"

I nodded.

His face lit up. "Any time Luka."

I could hear the others confused whispers. It went something along the lines of how I said "Chill" and "Thank you" all in the one sentence.

I was quite surprised myself. Maybe I was softening up a bit. It felt pretty good.

I snuggled up against the wall, taking off my jacket and putting it behind my head as a pillow. My eyes fluttered closed. I wanted enough rest so I was completely strong for tomorrow.

After a short while of attempting to get some sleep, a strange feeling washed over me. I suddenly felt as if someone was watching me.

Without opening my eyes I wondered who could be watching. Maybe it was Ace. Maybe he waited until we were defenseless and tired to kill us. I stiffened, ready to attack.

Nothing happened.

My eyes snapped open. My eyes instantly met the pair of familiar violet ones.

Gakupo was staring at me again.

He was staring the exact way as before when we were climbing up the hill. No emotion, just blank. Even his eyes. They just stared blankly at me, as if he was expecting something from me.

Even when he noticed me staring right back at him, he didn't even blink. I glared at the boy. I wasn't sure why I was annoyed at him for just blankly looking at me. Maybe it was because it slightly freaked me out.

I tossed over, turning away from the strange boy. I pulled my eyes close, trying to resist the urge to check if Gakupo was still staring at me.

I stayed like that for a while. Twenty minutes maybe? However long it was, I could still feel his eyes trained onto me.

After what felt like hours, I heard him give out a loud sigh, and turn over. I couldn't help but let out a breath. That boy was killing me.

I could hear the rain begin to start up again. I smiled. The rain used to be my favourite thing to hear at night, it always helped me get to sleep.

And as always, it lived up to it's reputation.

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><p><strong>(Gakupo P.O.V)<strong>

My eyes suddenly snapped open.

I suddenly wished I had a watch on me. I couldn't tell if it was still night or morning. Either way, I didn't really want to go back to sleep.

I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. It only just caught my attention of the state the others were in. I smiled at the sight in front of me.

Rin was snuggled onto Len's chest, who had an arm around her. I could only imagine how red his face would be when he woke up.

Only naturally, Piko and Miki lay next to each other. Piko was hugging her from behind, as the two locked hands as they slept.

My eyes drifted over to Kaito and Miku, although the two weren't a couple, it sure didn't look that way at the moment.

Their heads were both leaning against the cave's wall. Miku's head was tucked into Kaito's shoulder, while he rested his head on top of hers. His left arm was wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. His hand rested comfortably on the side of her body, where she hugged his arm tightly with her arms.

They obviously both had feelings for each other, Kaito just needed to wake up and realize that.

I would appreciate him moving away from Luka.

Speaking of Luka, I looked around to realize that she was no where to be found. I searched around the cave, silently hissing the girl's name.

I froze when I noticed the girl silently sitting on the ledge of the cave's entrance. It confused me how she hadn't noticed my stirring or hissing when I had obviously been loud. Then I noticed why.

As I walked closer to the girl, her sobs grew louder. Her shoulder's shook slightly, however she still kept a tight grip on her knees that were tucked into her chest.

I hid in the darkness, just watching her. Tears rolled silently down her pained face. It hurt to watch her.

"I've ruined everything." She said in a shuddered whisper. "If only I had just done what he said. Then maybe things would be different."

I frowned. Without thinking I stepped forward, into vision.

"What do you mean?"

Luka jumped. She spun around, eyes filled with tears. She bit down on her lip, and turned back towards the pouring rain.

"Don't ignore me Luka." I walked closer to the girl, standing next to her. From this position I easily towered over the girl. She only cowered more into her ball.

This girl looked exactly like the old Luka. The defenseless, innocent girl I had met, not the strong, hot head that was our leader.

I crouched down, so I was eye level with Luka. My face turned to more of a sympathetic expression.

"Come on Luka, you can tell me. Does this have anything to do with that guy saying Ace killed your family? What happened?"

Luka shook her head violently. She clawed at her knees. "I... I can't."

I suddenly got annoyed. If there was something she wasn't telling us, we deserved to know. Besides, we were all in the dark about this Ace guy.

I grabbed onto her shoulders, making her jump. Her teary eyes met my stern ones.

Luka let out a sigh. "F-Fine."

I let the girl go, and sat next to her comfortably.

"Do you remember when I disappeared for three years?" She asked.

"How could I forget?"

Her expression grew more pained. "Well... During that time, he was my mentor."

My mouth fell open. "What?"

She hugged her knees tighter. "He heard about my… abilities. So he visited my family. He said he could help me control my powers. And for a while.. things were great. I had fun learning how to do new things. But then… His statics changed." She bit down on her lip. I remained quiet for her to continue.

"He started instructing me to do evil things. The first thing was destroying the park. When I refused he began to… attack me. He would hit me with his own magic whenever I didn't do as he said. I was forced to do horrible things. I even had to kill humans." She spat the last sentence out in disgust.

I was horrified. Luka? Murdering someone? It seemed unimaginable.

"But then I realized he never wanted to teach me. I realized he wanted to overthrow this world. And with my magic, he could do anything he wanted. He was training me to be his evil sidekick. So, I was never going to do that. I told him I wasn't going to do it anymore. I said he could torture me as much as he liked, but I wasn't going to hurt anyone anymore."

I smiled slightly. That was just like Luka.

More tears filled her eyes as she continued. "So, for a short time, things were good again. Mum applied me for school, and I was a normal kid. But then.. One day when I got home…" Her words got smaller and smaller.

"I walked into the living room, and they were all dead on the ground." She bit down on her lip, trying to suppress a sob.

"I spent years trying to find out where he went. I was always afraid he would attack again, so I started Vocaloid. And now he wants me to come back to him. So I can become the sidekick he always wanted."

I sat there looking at the crying girl. What could I do? All of this had come as a huge shock to me. To believe all of this happened to her while she was a child.

"It would have been better if I just became his sidekick and killed him when I had the chance. Then we wouldn't be in this mess."

I suddenly jumped to my feet. I frowned down at the girl. "Luka that's ridiculous! Think about it, if you had done that, you would have never started Vocaloid! We wouldn't have saved as many lives as we have! Kaito would still be living with an abusive family! If you had gone with him, you wouldn't be Luka."

Suddenly I felt Luka's arms wrap around my back. I looked down to see her shoulder's shaking slightly, although I knew these tears were different.

"You really think we can defeat him?" She looked up with teary, hopeful eyes.

I smiled. "I know we can."

I really did.

A smile crawled its way onto her face. She buried her head back into my chest, tightening her grip on my shirt.

I stroked the girl's hair as I snaked an arm around her as well. I felt her relax into me.

"Stay." She suddenly commanded. "You have to promise you'll never leave me."

I took the girl's arms off me, which caused her to jump slightly. I firmly placed my hands on her shoulders and bent down so my eyes were level with hers.

"I made that promise to you a long time ago." I said.

It occurred to me. In this moment, right here, right now. The harsh, leader Luka had completely disappeared, and the original, sweet girl had returned. I thought for a moment. Maybe it was possible I could bring her out forever.

She suddenly noticed my staring. It was as if a click went off in her head.

"Good! Because you're vice leader of Vocaloid and if you left the paperwork would be a mess! Now go to sleep!" She instructed harshly, although I noticed a faint blush still lingering on her cheeks.

I pouted. "Aww, you sure?"

She stamped her foot loudly. "Of course I'm sure!"

I smiled at the girl, giving her a pat on the head before leaving into the depth of the cave.

I lingered for a bit, watching the girl's reaction.

Luka smiled, biting down on her lip. She sat back down on the cave's edge resting on the back of her hands.

I noticed her humming and swinging her legs gleefully.

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><p><strong>Okay, I'm sure the setting of where they actually are is confusing. A farm area next to a forest, next to a rocky hill thingy. It's a little strange. But eh, they have magical powers, so their world can be as weird as they like :)<strong>


	9. Chapter Nine

**Hey guys. I'm SO sorry this took so long ! But I have a good excuse, my internet has been absolutely horrible ! Seriously, I'd have the internet for about ten minutes, and then it would drop out. And I needed that time for assignments. Overall I've been busy and I haven't been able to write and then I couldn't get them up because the internet was being a bum. But here you go :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

I huffed loudly as I sat down on the steps leading into the Great City Hall. The town was dead empty, with not another soul in sight. Not only was it a complete ghost town, but the entire City was a wreck. It confused me however. The barrier Luka had shot had protected the City. When we left everything was intact. Now, everything was a mess. It sent a small shudder down my spine knowing that whoever started this attack came back to the City, turning it over, looking for people. What they wanted to do with those people, I didn't want to know.

The reason I was here was to look for anyone in need. It wasn't just me however. The rest of the neglected Vocaloids were forced to split up, and search others too. However I wasn't too focused on my current task. The fact that Luka had sent us back, rather than letting us help the others fight had set me off. It was completely unfair.

"Stupid Luka. Sending us back." I muttered bitterly.

I felt someone ruffle my hair. "Hey, she's only doing what's right for the people." Kiyoteru said.

I frowned, flattening my hair down. "Yeah, yeah. But what about us? I wanted to kick some ass!"

Kiyoteru rolled his eyes. "You can do that here."

"Oh really?" I asked, a sly grin creeping on my face.

The boy really needed to be more careful with his words. I picked up a piece of scrap nearby from the attacks. Without him noticing, I lifted it high above my head, ready to attack.

I swung the scrap as hard as I could, until I felt it connect with something. I noticed it wasn't Kiyoteru's face

Kiyoteru grinned as he held his arm against the scrap. He was smart, thinking like me. It was stupid to use our magic when we would need every ounce of it if someone attacked.

Kiyoteru threw a punch at my head, but I quickly ducked out of the way. I looked for another piece of scrap to hit him with, but with no success.

I heard his quick footsteps, before I could jump out of the way, I felt a hard kick to my side.

I sailed before smacking down against the hard ground. I groaned against the ground. I held onto my side, it was aching from the blow.

Suddenly an idea struck my mind. I grinned as I pretended to be in a world of pain.

I clutched at my dimly aching side, while crying out in pain.

I noticed Kiyoteru's sudden shocked face. He raced over, kneeling beside me. He looked so worried, it was hard to contain myself.

"Meiko, oh my god. I'm so so-"

In a swift movement, I pulled the boy to his feet as I jumped to mine. I held a firm grip on his collar as I slammed him into the wall behind us.

"Gotcha." I giggled.

Kiyoteru breathed a sigh of relief. "Meiko! Don't do that, you really scared m-"

He suddenly froze. His eyes were wide, looking off in the distance.

I frowned at the boy. "Kiyoteru, wha-"

"Look."

Cautiously, I turned around.

I didn't know what to make of it. Far off in the stormy clouds, the sky seemed to be a deathly black. However it wasn't just staying there.

"It… looks like it's slowly making its way here." I whispered.

Kiyoteru swallowed. "Something is coming our way."

* * *

><p>A sharp pain in my side disturbed me of my sleep.<p>

I clutched onto my now heavily aching side. I groaned as I looked up to the figure next to me.

Luka's face seemed back to normal. No innocence or cheerfulness there.

"Get up." She stated.

I groaned again. She must have kicked me.

"No need to be so gentle Luka." I yawned.

I felt another hard kick to my side. I yelped in pain, holding my side.

"I won't then." She said.

As weird as it was, I found myself smiling. Luka was really a strange girl.

I saw her glare at me, but as she turned I caught her grinning slightly. That was enough to get me on my feet.

The other's looked in as bad condition as I did. I could tell by the bags under their eyes and loud yawns, that Luka had gotten them off to a bad start.

We all adjusted ourselves, before deciding to head off. The rain had disappeared, but the gray clouds still remained in the sky.

Piko and Len begun heading down the hill first, followed by Miki and Miku. I looked over at Luka, who was tying her hair up into a ponytail.

"Luka, are you okay now? You don't need help?" I asked gently.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I'm that pathetic? No Gakupo. I'm fine." She snapped harshly.

I pulled back at her sudden out burst. Well the original Luka had returned.

Kaito and Rin begun to head down, slowly making their way down the rocks. Luka jumped down, eager to go. I sighed, before going down myself. Once we all gathered down at the bottom, a soft rumble was heard through the clouds.

Piko groaned. "Really? It just died down!"

We all nodded in agreement.

"Well then we'll have to move faster to shelter." Luka instructed.

We all groaned, before trudging off after her.

After about five minutes of walking through the mud, a loud shriek came from Miku.

"Gross! You smell disgusting!" She wailed, pointing at Kaito.

The boy's cheeks burned. "I do not!"

Rin just sighed. "We all smell. We haven't changed since the festival."

I agreed with the others. My clothes were still damp with all the rain and I was dying to get out of them.

Luka frowned. "We'll look for somewhere we can get refreshed. People won't say no to us."

I tried to suppress a laugh. I could just imagine Luka bounding through someone's door, demanding for a shower.

Luka turned her head to eye me closely. As she glared at me, I seemed to notice her nodding her head in her direction, telling me to walk next to her.

Once I caught up to the girl, she seemed to pay no attention to my presence.

'Yes Luka?"

The girl cocked her head in my direction. "What?"

I frowned in confusion. Hadn't she just called me over?

"Did you want something?"

The girl seemed to pause for a moment, thinking about what she was about to say. Then, turning back to me, she smiled slightly.

"No."

I watched as the girl playfully moved faster, leaving me to fall back with the rest of the group.

The others eyed me with playful grins. Whilst I stood there in confusion.

"Girls." I groaned.

* * *

><p>After a short while of exploring, the others already began to complain again.<p>

Miku was struggling to keep up with the group, however seemed much more lively once Kaito took her hand and led her on.

Whilst the others only lifted their voices once every couple minutes to ask the same, repetitive question.

"Are we there yet?"

I could see a vein in Luka's forehead throb. She had obviously had it with the group. I couldn't blame the girl, even I was getting annoyed.

Suddenly Luka halted.

We all paused in our tracks too. If Luka stopped, we stopped. Any movements without her instruction could be dangerous.

She didn't turn, move or do anything. Although we did noticed a subtle change about the girl.

Her hands were glowing a vicious black. It seemed to engulf her hands in darkness.

That was enough to shut us up.

We continued trudging in the thick mud. The day was hot and humid, a complete change from yesterday's weather. It was the kind of weather that made your clothes stick to you body, and just made you feel gross. Plus with the added bonus that we hadn't showered in about two days, we didn't smell to pleasant either.

A sudden rumble echoed through our pack. Our eyes all diverted to Rin, who was holding onto her stomach.

She looked up to notice all of our staring. Her face turned a bright pink as she muttered a silent sorry.

There was also that we hadn't eaten in that time either.

"Luukaaa." Miku wailed. "Is there any way w-"

"Silence!" Luka suddenly roared.

As ordered, we shut up. But we realized that Luka hadn't told Miku to be quiet because she was being childish, but because there was a dull roar of human life in the distance.

"It sounds like…"

"A city." Luka finished Rin's statement briefly.

It was as if we were hit with a sudden energy boost. Our legs seemed to lift lighter and easier off the ground, racing towards the city's noise.

We ran through the mud, listening closely to the noise. With each step we took, the noise became more clear and louder.

As we bounded through the trees, we were stunned with what we found. For one, it appeared that we had taken a trip through time.

The city we had come from was futuristic and bright. Whilst where we were standing, looked like olden Aquaridon.

There were small, circular shaped houses placed randomly about the lot. People roamed carelessly through the area, walking to small local shops off to the side. Children ran through the houses, their clothes becoming stained with dirt from the terrain they were running on.

We stood there, watching the olden city in awe. How could such a city still exist? It wasn't too far from the main city, so it wasn't like they were cut off from all modern day living.

Suddenly a small girl noticed us. She frowned at us, observing us closely. We all watched as the little girl ran to an elder woman and pointed in our direction. The elder woman, who most likely looked like the younger girl's mother, grabbed the attention of others.

Soon enough it was as if the entire city were watching us, as we were watching them. We all stood there, either side not sure what to do.

Suddenly a young girl made her way through the crowd. The girl was only young and frail. However it did surprise me how much she resembled Luka. She had salmony-pink hair and clear green eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if she said she was Luka's cousin or relative.

What really struck me about the girl was her outfit. She seemed to be dressed in a green maid's outfit. Did this town have their own maids to cater them?

"Greetings fellow Aquaridoians." The girl greeted politely. "My name is Momo Momone. But you may call me Momo."

Kaito arched an eyebrow. "How come your city is so…-"

"Old fashioned?" Momo asked.

Kaito nodded.

Momo smiled. "Because, we are Utauloids. We are those that did not want to live in the stresses of magic. We chose to give up our powers and live as normal people. I am the leader of the Utauloids."

Len frowned. "How is it possible that you can live without magic? Shouldn't you be dead?"

"Well, I wouldn't say we don't have any magic. My magic is able to nullify others. So I have nullified everyone's magic, including my own. So we may live without our magic, however it isn't truly gone." Momo explained.

Luka smiled slightly. "Thank you for introducing us Momo. We are Vocaloids. The rest of the people in Aquaridon have been stripped of their powers. We need to go find the person responsible of taking their powers, or they will die."

Momo smiled, and the people behind her kindly parted.

"We recognize your bravery. Please, take our support and care. We shall take care of you until you are ready to continue."

The offer was too good to pass up. I uttered a quick thank you, before rushing down into the city.

I smiled at the young children chasing at each other through the town. These people had been living in their own secluded world, outside of ours. It was hard to believe they lived without magic, the one factor that completely made up our lives.

The idea of living without magic seemed unthinkable. There was no way of defending yourself or doing any productive really. But looking at the people here, they seemed to get along just fine.

In fact, they looked a lot happier than most wizards. Perhaps living without the responsibility of magic was more of a favor.

I jumped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see a young girl standing shyly behind me. The girl hid behind her wavy blonde hair. I couldn't help but smile at the small bunny ears she had placed on her head.

The girl smiled slightly, fidgeting with her hands.

"U-Um.. Sorry if I'm bothering you. But are you Gakupo Kamui?" The girl's voice was so scared and small, that I had almost missed it.

"Y-Yes?"

The girl smiled. "Good. I was just wondering if you wanted to take a shower and rest inside our cabin. My older brother can provide you with some clothes."

I was blown away by the girl's kindness. "W-Why thank you.. um.."

"Luna." The girl answered.

"Thank you Luna."

The girl smiled as she led me into the closest house near us. I gazed at the small living space. It was about the size of Luka's office, and was built with all different kinds of materials. I found myself smiling at the small cozy home.

"We have a bathtub outside, I shall prepare it for you. Please make yourself at home."

I watched as the small girl departed outside, leaving me awkwardly inside her small house. I sat down on a small futon that was prepared on the ground. The house around me felt similar to my own room at the Vocaloid station.

A small cough brought me out of my daze.

I looked up to notice a boy, looking my age, standing in the doorway. The boy looked familiar, but I couldn't place where I had seen him.

There weren't many boys I knew with bright teal hair.

"Who are you?" The boy frowned at me.

"I'm a Vocaloid. We'r-"

"Yeah I know who you are." The boy grunted. He moved away before I could put another word in.

Suddenly the small girl rushed back inside. "Gakupo! Your bath is ready. I have applied a curtain around your bathing area so you may have privacy."

I smiled at the girl. "Thanks Luna."

I followed the girl outside to the small bathing area. Placed just outside their small house was a small, wooden bathtub. The warm, soapy water looked incredibly inviting. Luna bowed, before parting inside.

I felt a little embarrassed as I pulled the curtain around, and started taking off my clothes. I found myself always looking around; making sure no one was able to see me.

I slipped into the warm bath. I couldn't help but let out long sigh as the water clung onto my grimy body. A nice warm bath was just what I needed.

As I ripped the elastic that held my hair into a ponytail, it sprawled into the bath, soaking itself in the clean water. I made sure to wash it thoroughly, as well as the rest of myself. I scrubbed myself until I was red, making sure I was perfectly clean.

After cleaning myself, I decided to relax in the water. Without noticing I closed my eyes, and suck further into the water. All my problems easily slipped out of my mind. Being here was perfect.

Soon enough, my fingers and toes decided to turn pruney. I decided it was time to hop out.

Hanging over the curtain was a long white towel. Luna must have brought it over when I was bathing.

The cold started to prick at my clean body as I wrapped myself with the towel. However I noticed also hanging over the curtain was a new batch of fresh clothing.

"Luna really is a kind girl." I found myself whispering with a smile.

She had chosen a long, button on shirt, which was a light brown colour. Along with dark brown pants. I noticed it look kind of old fashioned, but then everything else here did.

As I buttoned up the shirt, and pulled on the pants, I felt completely clean. I was incredibly grateful for Luna and all the other Utauloids comfort.

I walked back inside to thank Luna, who was happy that I was content. The girl wished for me to return later as I left the small house.

I walked through the town, smiling at almost everything. I stopped at the small markets. The market consisted of two long rows of stalls, opposite each other. Each stall sold various things. I stopped at a food stall, gazing at all their mysterious foods. The things they had there, I had never come across before in my life.

After purchasing a few things, I decided to continue my way through the stalls, smiling at the sellers. That was, until a figure caught my eye.

Luka was gazing at a small compass. She fiddeled with it in her hands, flipping it open and shut. However one thing stood out about the girl. When we had been performing, Luka had been wearing a tight, sparkling one piece. It had looked amazing on the night, however after we left, it looked tattered and horrible. However now Luka was dressed in a cute light blue sundress. The dress was quite short, brushing above her knees. However she made it look adorable with the small sleeves on her shoulders. Her hair was now long and out, reaching her back, unlike before when it was in a messy ponytail.

The girl noticed my starting, and motioned me over.

I felt my face turn red slightly at the girl catching my stare, however I obliged. Instead of attacking me for staring at her, the girl simply placed the compass in my hands.

"You look better." She said with a small smile. "Much better."

A smile worked its way onto my face. She was really becoming a better person.

"Now buy me this." She ordered, before parting back into the sea of houses.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the girl. I couldn't figure that girl out.

"Is she someone special to you?" The lady behind the stall asked politely.

I nodded, blushing slightly.

"Then have it for free. Its just been sitting there for years now, collecting dust." She smiled.

"R-Really? Thank you." I was taken back by the woman's sudden kindness.

The woman nodded. "I wish you luck with her."

I thanked her again before parting off. Her last words were running through my mind.

_I need all the luck I can get._ I thought with a sigh.

* * *

><p><strong>Aghggggghh. I hate this chapter, hopefully you guys liked it better than I did ! But I was kind of rushing because I really wanted to get this up. Im sorry guys, promise I will improve later ! -.-<strong>

**~Bridge**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Yeah, late again. But as always, I have an excuse to share. I just got off school holidays, but just as I got onto holidays I got really sick. I got a bad infection that was spreading to my kidneys and I had to go to hospital for a while. So when I finally got home, I was instructed to rest and not strain myself. I wanted to write, I really did! But my mum took away my computer so I couldn't. She just wanted me to get better. But all the sleeping and resting gave me a good opportunity to come up with new ideas. (:**

**~Bridge**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

I roamed through the now empty village with a full stomach and a wide smile. The UTAUloids had thrown a large feast for the entire village in our honour and welcoming. We had all felt like kings and queens as they pampered us with songs and countless meals.

The other Vocaloids had called it a night earlier on. I was the last to leave the party. The music and the people had been too good an opportunity to pass up. The feeling the people here distributed reminded me before I became a Vocaloid, where I had no worries and just enjoyed life as it came.

I did accept that when I took on the job of being a Vocaloid that there would be responsibilities, Luka had made that very clear. But it was natural to long a fun, easygoing lifestyle. I was still young; it was normal to want to still have fun.

_Perhaps living a life without magic wouldn't be so bad._ I thought.

As the words hit my brain I instantly shook my head frantically. Thinking thoughts like that was betraying Luka and the rest of the Vocaloids.

The streets were dead empty now, everyone must have returned to their homes faster than I realized. The only soul left in the street was just me, slowing roaming down the streets.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" A sudden loud voice screamed.

I frowned. That voice sounded familiar. But I couldn't place where.

Feeling worried, I decided I would check what was going on. Someone was in distress.

The sound of my shoes hitting the dirty ground echoed through the empty village. My face filled with pain with each step I took. I wasn't very good at being a quiet predator.

I hurriedly dodged through the small circular houses, in the direction of the scream. I could still hear the noises of scuffles, but nothing that worrying. As I turned a quick corner, I noticed two figures near a market's wall.

As I moved closer, I noticed one figure was against the wall, while the other was leaning over them. However I couldn't make anything further out because of the darkness. I picked up my pace, and began to jog towards the two. The figures became clearer as I got closer.

The figure leaning over the other one seemed to have… blue? Green hair? It still wasn't clear, but the person didn't seem too familiar. It wasn't until I heard his voice that I knew who it was.

A small, purple haired girl was desperately cowering into the wall. Her hands were held back against the wall by two much larger ones. I recognised her as the friend of Momo, I saw the two together a lot. The man over the girl eye's were painted with anger. He was growling at the girl, while she did nothing but squeak in fear.

The man seemed to shake with anger causing his bright teal hair to fall into his eyes.

"Hey." I stepped closer to the pair, making my way into their vision. "Everything all right here?"

The familiar man shot daggers at me with his eyes, as if he were threatening me. Although he did cringe away from the small girl, letting go of her hands.

The girl took that opportunity to escape from beneath him. She timidly pushed him away before desperately running to the safety behind me.

"What are you doing here?" The boy growled, firmly crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just passing through. I just happened to come across you guys."

"It's none of your business." He hissed.

"Ironic, coming from you Mikuo."

Both of us froze at the sudden voice. Out of the darkness, behind the so called, "Mikuo", Luka stepped out, staring the man down. By this time the girl behind me had run off, I didn't blame her, the aura emitting off Luka and Mikuo wasn't anything pleasant.

"You don't know anything Luka," Mikuo spat bitterly. "You're just too focused on yourself, as usual."

Luka tensed. Her eyes were solely focused on the boy, her bright blue orbs glaring at him viciously. I had only seen her give that stare to dark wizards, never normal civilians. Well, he seemed to be a normal civilian.

"Gakupo, you should leave." Luka blankly stated, her eyes were still trained on Mikuo, who stood silently.

"But Luk-"

"Go." Her voice was more demanding now. She wasn't giving me an option.

Fighting was useless; Luka had made up her mind. With a loud sigh, I turned and left in the direction the young girl had left in earlier.

As I made my way back to my sleeping area, I could hear the hushed hisses coming from Luka and Mikuo. I was too far away to make out what they were saying; all I could hear were long hisses.

I guess it wasn't my business anyway. Besides, I should have hit the hay hours ago, seeing how we were leaving tomorrow.

Thankfully the Utauloids had set us up a larger than normal hut for us to stay in. It was big enough for us to just slip in without being too cramped.

The room was filled with the other Vocaloids, who had gone to bed much earlier than I had. Most of them were tucked away, sleeping peacefully, however a few had decided to take advantage of the extra room. With the way Rin had spread herself out on the floor, it would be a miracle if Luka could get it.

With a tired sigh, I managed to squeeze into a corner. It was small, but it would do for the night.

However after the scene I had just witnessed, my brain was too busy thinking rather than getting to sleep. How did Luka know that boy? Why did he seem to dislike her so much?

I had known Luka my entire life but she was still a complete stranger to me. Nothing about her made any sense.

"Gakupo? Are you still awake?" Luka peered through the hut's entrance, eyeing me closely.

Feeling too awkward to say anything, I just nodded meekly at the girl. Luka's face looked slightly flushed and her eyes looked exhausted. I couldn't help but wonder what she did to the Mikuo boy.

Luka slunk through the door of the hut, careful not to step on any body parts of the others. She managed to find a tiny spot close to where I was sitting to just slip into. By the distance look on Luka's face, I felt put off to ask her anything. But I was still desperate to know what was going on.

"He blames me, you know." Luka suddenly said. She was still looking distant, but she seemed to know what I was thinking.

"Who? The boy you were with?" I asked.

She nodded. "That's Mikuo. He was a good family friend when I was younger, and best friends with my little brother Luki," At the mention of her brother's name, her face seemed to swell with pain. "He had heard my scream when I found my family dead, and came inside. All he saw was me kneeling over my family soaked in their blood. He blamed me for their murder. I tried telling him that Ace had killed them, but then he just said how it was my fault that he had killed them. Ever since then he's hated me."

I sat there trying to soak in all the information Luka had just thrown at me. A huge amount of emotion had been inside her words, it must have been building inside her so much that it just came out on its own.

"So why is he here?" I asked the solemn girl.

Luka only shrugged. "Last time I saw him was in the Great City as we were setting up. Maybe he saw me there and wanted to get even further away from me. "

By the way she spoke about Mikuo, it seemed like she believed his accusation. Maybe she did blame herself for her family's death.

"Luka, regardless what Mikuo says, what happened to your family was Ace's fault. Not yours." I placed my hand on the girl's arm. A bold move to pull on her.

But instead of slapping my hand away like I expected, Luka just smiled. "Thanks. I guess sometimes he gets to me."

Something about Mikuo made Luka look crushed. Even though she knew deep down it wasn't her fault, a part of her still blamed herself. Mikuo's words weren't doing her any good either.

"Well, we should be getting to sleep. We should be arriving at Ace's destination tomorrow." Luka started to move off, making herself comfortable for the night. She still seemed worried about Mikuo, and I didn't really want to pry. But one thing still seemed confusing for me.

"Wait Luka," Luka suddenly snapped her head around to face me, eyes glaring into mine. I choked slightly on my own my saliva. "Well.. um, I was wondering how you know where Ace is. He disappeared years ago didn't he?"

Luka's face softened. "Yeah, I know. It's just that when Ace was training me, he would normally take me to this large mountain. But inside it was hollow, and made so it was perfect for us to train in. He called it the Dome. There's no doubt that he's in there."

Luka's face was solemn at the mention of the Dome. She had mentioned earlier that when she didn't do as instructed, she would be punished by Ace. I could only imagine the punishments she received in there.

"Its really happening." Luka whispered, her eyes frozen with fear. "I'm, we're, Ace, I-"

Luka stopped her stuttering to suddenly shake with fear. Her eyes were wide, her pupils seeming to shrink into nothingness. Her face was frozen and stuck in a position of pure terror. But the scariest thing about Luka was that she was shaking like a leaf.

"Luka?" My voice was trembling. Luka looked horrified, and I was clueless on what to do. Luka was never like this.

However she didn't budge. If anything, her body shook even more. It was as if memories of Ace were stuck in her brain, slowly developing her mind.

"Luka? Luka, come on!" I desperately grabbed the girl's shoulders, twisting her in my direction. Her eyes were empty, and limply meeting mine. Her lips were even trembling now.

Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around the girl, pulling her into my chest. My head buried itself into her shoulder, however it was difficult with her shaking. Her body was still limp, and shaking as steady as ever, but I made sure to hold my grip.

"Luka, it'll be okay." I whispered into the girl's ear. "I promise. He cant hurt you any more."

Gradually, the shaking died down to a mere shiver. Life seemed to return to the girl's body. I knew she was back to normal when her arms lifted up to my back, clutching onto my shirt.

"I'm scared." She choked out. "I don't know how to deal with it."

A smile worked its way to my face. I pulled back from the girl to meet her eyes. She still looked terrified, but by the smile on my face, she relaxed slightly.

"You don't have to." I reassured. "Because I'll be here to go through it with you."

Luka's eyes glistened with tears. A large smile spread to her face, followed by a relieved sigh. Suddenly she flung her arms back around me again.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>"Bye! Come back anytime!" Momo's cheery voice was the last thing I heard as we exited the town. They would go back to their lives as if we had never come, and we would try our best to safeguard their future.<p>

Luka was serious when she said that we may not make it through this battle, her eyes could always tell. The others may not have seen it as clearly, but for me it was as bright as day.

Secretly we were all scared. There was no way that any of us couldn't. The entire of Aquaridon was depending on us to save their lives.

We only had two days left until all the wizards of Aquaridon would die. The battle with the copying bastard had taken another day, and we had spent two days with the Utaloids. We knew we had to move now, or it would be too late.

As usual, we obediently followed behind Luka. However compared to the last time we travelled, she wasn't as strict with our pace and formation. She simply slumped along at the front of the pack, clutching onto her arm.

All of us shared worried glances. None of us had seen Luka so laid back and unprofessional since we were children. Quite frankly, it was scary. If we didn't have Luka being a leader, we would all be lost.

The sound of thunder rumbled through the cloudy sky above us. It didn't look like we had much time until the rain arrived. We were on a rocky, dirt filled path that looked like it would go on for miles, so shelter was out of reach.

Our hope was dwindling.

* * *

><p>"Meiko!"<p>

I tried to ignore Kiyoteru's cry as I lay on the ground, the pain from being thrown onto the concrete still burning fresh. I limply pulled myself up to rest on my elbows, with one hand, I wiped the blood that was dripping from the side of my mouth. Using the wall the assist me, I got to my feet.

The black shadows were still everywhere. It had been like a sudden swarm of them. The sky had turned black suddenly, and then, the shadows followed. They started heading for the nearest camp for the Aquaridon people. We didn't know what they wanted with them, but if they were produced by Ace, we as sure as hell were going to stop them.

But the shadows were hard to kill. If we sliced their head off, it simply came back. Kiyoteru could electrocute them to make them weak, but it never killed them. But I sure as hell wasn't going to give up.

I lept off the wall, charging at the army of black shadows. I could still hear Kiyoteru yelling at me, telling me to be careful and what not. But being careful didn't apply here, keeping everyone safe was the only thing on my mind.

Blade in hand, I flew over to the shadows, ready to attack. Before any of them could move, I plunged a the blade deep into one of the black bodies. Still holding onto the blade, I fell back to the ground, with the shadow with me. The shadow slammed onto its back on the ground, with me on top.

I lifted to blade out of its body to repeat with a second blow, but it only disappeared with the wind.

"Dammit!" I screamed, almost throwing my blade away with frustration.

Kiyoteru didn't seem to be having much luck either, the shadows swarmed around him, delivering painful blows to his body. I watched, frozen, as the boy desperately tried to hold them back with electric bolts, but if he knocked down two, four replaced them.

I noticed a shadow behind the unsuspecting boy. It's arm had transformed into a long, pointy blade. A blow to Kiyoteru's body, and the blade would surely kill him.

I desperately jumped to my feet, running as fast as I could towards the boy. The shadow's white smile was growing wider than ever. But I wasn't going to let it have its satisfaction, I wasn't.

Just as the blade was scraping the boy's neck, my blade ripped through it's arm, lodged into place. The shadow's smile disappeared, and instead howled down at me. The black monster thrashed around suddenly, pulling me in every direction imaginable. It shook its arm that held my blade like crazy, with me still holding on.

It tried taking the blade out, but before it could land its hands on it, I kicked the shadow in the stomach.

_Why didn't it just disappear like they normally do? _I thought with confusion. The rest of the shadows simply just disappeared when I was about to attack.

Then it hit me. They couldn't disappear when my blade was in them. They can only disappear when nothing is harming them.

"Kiyoteru! They can't disappear if you have something attacking them!" I yelled at the now free boy. He frowned at me, but as he noticed the still struggling shadow in my grasp, he understood.

The shadow looked down at me still howling in my face. Its loud howl screamed through my ears, causing them to ring loudly. I almost let go of the blade to cover them, but I held my ground, even when I felt the tickle of blood run down my neck.

Now I knew how I could kill them. Now the real battle began.


End file.
